


To Infinity

by InkOutsidetheLines



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Slow Burn, person from our world goes to the marvel world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28860852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkOutsidetheLines/pseuds/InkOutsidetheLines
Summary: Felicity never cared for superhero stories. She found them cliché, unrealistic, and frankly, kind of boring. So when Felicity gets dragged into the Marvel Universe, she's unprepared to deal with this world, as she only knows bits and pieces about it. Unfortunately for her, bits and pieces are just enough to put her a target on her back.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

The sun wasn't quite all the way up and the morning air was still cool when Felicity got the park where she liked to do her morning run. The park was deserted as she stretched, enjoying the feel of her muscles pulling. Felicity spotted some birds darting from spot to spot on the grass and smiled. Today was going to be a good day.

She started off down the path at a jog, keeping her pace easy at first. After about a quarter of a mile, she picked up the pace, pushing herself harder. It was a familiar routine: the sound of her sneakers hitting the ground, the exertion in her muscles, the feel of the breeze whipping through her ponytail. The familiarity made the shock worse, when pain stabbed through her chest.

Felicity stumbled to a halt with a low cry, bending over and bracing her hands on her thighs. Just as it seemed the pain was fading, it came again, sharp and wrenching, likes someone was twisting her insides with a knife.

_Help. I need help!_

She forced herself to stand, to take a step back towards her car and the cell phone she'd left locked inside, but the pain came again. This time it spread, clamping down on her muscles so she couldn't move. Blue stars exploded in her vision. The background noise of the park faded away into a silence so complete that Felicity could hear the sound of her blood rushing through her. The pressure on her muscles built and stretched until she thought it was going to snap her apart.

Abruptly, it all released, and Felicity stumbled forward into a table. She clung to it to stay upright, gasping for breath.

_Wait, a table? How…?_

A man's voice spoke sharply, in a language that Felicity couldn't understand. Her head snapped up, and she saw that she wasn't in the park anymore. She was in what looked like some kind of lab, and there were two men. One was short and stocky, wearing glasses and staring at her incredulously. The other was tall and angry looking, dressed in some kind of uniform.

"What's happening?" she whispered.

The pain returned, and Felicity jerked back from the table with a cry. Blue rushed over her vision again as her muscles seized and twisted. She felt like she was freezing and on fire at the same time, and just as she thought she could stand no more, the pain melted away and she stumbled backwards into a cold, metal wall.

Felicity heaved, trying to fill her lungs with air, and looked around. She was on a plane now, somehow, two different men staring at her, one in a blue and red uniform with a large, white star on the chest, and the other like something out of a nightmare, his head blood red and shrunken so it looked like a moving skull. The man with the red skull held a glimmering blue cube. The same shade of blue that exploded through her vision with the pain.

"No, no, no!" The pain came again, doubling her over, and this time Felicity saw her legs shimmer blue before they shattered, and the realization that whatever was happening to her was literally tearing her apart and putting her back together was almost as horrifying as the pain.

When the pain faded this time she fell to her knees. When she looked up, Felicity saw a different man, dressed in a white lab coat and pushing himself off the ground, looking as though something had knocked him over. He saw her and froze, eyes going wide behind his goggles.

"Help me," Felicity begged. "I don't – I don't know what's happening!"

The pain came again, and Felicity arched her back, crying out. The world vanished in blue light, and she couldn't hear anything beyond the sound of the blood pounding in her ears. _Make it stop, make it stop!_

Her feet stumbled on rocky ground, kicking up gray dust. Felicity braced her hands on her thighs to keep from falling over. She looked around, and somehow she was _in space_. She could see the edge of the gray rock she was standing on, and it fell into blackness and stars. Ahead of her was a staircase, and Felicity followed it up with her gaze to a massive throne. Beside the throne was a figure with his back to her, impossibly large and dressed in armor. He shifted to look back at her, and she saw the profile of his face, with purple skin and unnatural ridges.

She couldn't process what she as seeing before the pain came again, knocking her over before the scenery faded away. Her muscles clenched so tightly she couldn't even scream, and Felicity didn't know how much more of this she could take.

When the pain stopped this time, she was lying on the ground, cold from the concrete beneath her sinking into her skin. She blinked her eyes open, and saw that this room was crowded. Everyone was armed, some pointing guns at her, some pointing guns at the man in green and black beside her. Felicity didn't care. "Please," she whispered. "Make it stop."

They didn't move, and the pain came again, lancing through her. Felicity closed her eyes against the blue light. When the pain stopped, she was somehow on her feet again. She opened her eyes and found herself in a different crowded room. The man in green and black was still there, standing in front of her this time, and his eyes narrowed and his brows drew together at the sight of her. "You?"

Felicity couldn't find the energy to try and speak. It was all she could do to stand. The pain had sunk deep into her, like it had attached itself to her very bones. _Please, enough._

The pain rose again, and she wanted to wail. It dragged her away, throbbing and twisting and shredding her apart. Her shoes scrapped across gravel, and Felicity collapsed. Rock bit into her, but that pain was mundane, inconsequential compared to what she'd just been through. She lay where she had fallen, waiting for the pain to return, to drag her through that blue silence again…but as the seconds ticked by, nothing happened.

Was it finally done?

"I can close it!"

Felicity blinked her eyes open at the sound of the woman's voice and looked. She was on a roof, somewhere. About ten feet away from her was some kind of machine housing a blue glowing cube – the same cube that she had seen briefly with the man that had looked like he'd had a red skull. The machine was sending up a pillar of blue light, and the sight sent her heart racing.

But nothing happened. The light didn't come for her; the pain didn't return.

A woman stood in front of the machine: black bodysuit, red hair, some sort of weird scepter thing in hand. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but Felicity's thoughts were too sluggish to place her. She glared down at Felicity. "Don't move."

Felicity didn't argue. Everything ached and trembled, and honestly, she wasn't sure if she could stand at all.

The woman reached one hand up to her ear. "I repeat, I can close the wormhole."

_The what?_

Felicity shifted a little, just enough that she could follow the trail of blue light up to the sky, and gasped. The blue light had torn a hole in the sky, and figures flew out of it. Felicity stared in growing horror. _What is this? What's going on?_

She heard the crunch of someone walking on the gravel and turned her head to see an older man coming around the machine. He looked down at her, eyes wide. "You actually made it."

The woman spared him a glance, but kept most of her attention on the sky. She was paying them some attention though, because when Felicity started to sit up, she snapped, "Stay down."

Felicity paused. The woman was scraped and bruised, and looked like she'd probably been having an awful day. Well, so was Felicity. She sat up. The woman glared at her, but stayed where she was, one hand by her ear, the other keeping the weird, glowing scepter pointed at the weird, glowing machine.

"What's going on?" Felicity demanded.

"It's a bit complicated," the man said. "Especially for you."

"You know who she is, Doc?" the woman asked. She kept her eyes on the sky.

"Not exactly," the man said, "but I know where she's from."

"That's not answering my question," Felicity snapped. The pain was fading some, but she still ached, she didn't know where she was, and there was a giant hole in the sky.

"That's - good lord, what is he doing?" the man asked, staring beyond her.

Felicity turned, looking up. She saw what he was staring at immediately; a figure gleaming red and gold, clinging to a missile, guiding it towards the hole in the sky.

"It's a nuke," the woman said. Her voice was hard and grim. "He's sending it through the hole."

Felicity made a choked noise. _This can't be happening._ She stared at the sky, the red and gold figure literally rocketing towards the hole, and suddenly things clicked. _This_ can't _be happening._

Because that up there, that was Iron Man. And this moment, this whole scene, was the end of The Avengers movie.

"This isn't real," Felicity said.

"It is." She looked back at the older man, and now that she had pegged this as a scene from The Avengers, Felicity thought he looked vaguely familiar. She didn't remember who he was or what he had done in the movie. She'd only seen it once in theaters, because her sister had dragged her there, and only the occasional bits and pieces since. "This world is very real."

Felicity shook her head. It didn't make sense; none of this did. There was no such thing as super heroes. Yet while she watched, Iron Man flew the nuke meant for New York City into space.

"Come on, Tony," the woman – Black Widow? Felicity couldn't remember her real name – mumbled. The seconds dragged by and Iron Man didn't reappear. Black Widow grimaced, shifted her grip on the scepter and shoved it at the machine. There was a flare of blue light that made Felicity recoil, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared, taking the stream of blue light that reached into the sky with it. The blue cube tumbled to the ground.

The hole started to collapse in on itself. At the last possible second, Iron Man flew out. Felicity heard Black Widow let out a sigh of relief, heard the older man murmur, "Thank goodness."

Iron Man continued to fly straight down, and Felicity realized he wasn't really flying at all; he was falling. Black Widow must have realized it too, because she suddenly sprinted past Felicity to the edge of the roof. The older man followed her, griping the edge of the wall that surrounded the roof. She saw the tension leave him. "They caught him. He'll be okay."

Felicity shifted, pushing herself up. She still felt weak and wobbly from whatever it was that had happened to her, but at least she could stand. Black Widow spun around as she stood, and Felicity froze. The two women eyed each other warily.

"Dr. Selvig," Black Widow said, "I think it's about time you explain what's going on with her. Is she a threat?"

Felicity glared. "Am I a threat? You're the one with a weapon!"

The man – Dr. Selvig – turned to face them. He met Felicity's stare for only a moment before wincing and looking away. Felicity followed his gaze down to the blue cube. "The Tesseract whispers to you, if you know how to listen. Loki did. It told him of other realities, including a reality where our world is just a story. He thought that if he summoned someone from that world, he might be able to discover secrets from them."

Dr. Selvig looked back at Felicity. "I don't think Loki quite knew what he was doing when he summoned you. When you appeared and then vanished again, we weren't sure what to think, especially since you had already appeared at the SHIELD base before we ever tried to summon you –" he stopped suddenly, and his face went a shade paler under the coat of sweat and dust.

"You – you were the ghost, weren't you?" he asked. "The one that appeared when Howard Stark first started testing the Tesseract. It bounced you everywhere before it settled you."

 _This is insane._ Dr. Selvig was actually suggesting that Felicity had been dragged to another _reality_ – a reality that was merely a fictional story in her universe.

"No," Felicity said. She shook her head. "I'm not – this isn't happening. It's impossible! This _isn't real_!"

It had felt real, though. The blue light that had torn her apart and put her back together, and the pain that had come with it, that had felt real. This moment felt real. The wind that brushed over her clammy skin, the gravel shifting beneath her sneakers, the sound of distant sirens and the smell of smoke: it all felt real. The guilt that flashed across Dr. Selvig's face and the cold consideration on Black Widow's looked real.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Selvig said. "I truly am."

He looked it too, and the sad expression on his face made panic flutter under Felicity's skin. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands as they clenched into fists, the sting grounding her. This couldn't be a dream. No one could feel pain in dreams, and if it wasn't a dream then –

_This is real._

Felicity had actually been dragged to another world. A world with aliens, and superheroes, and magic. She felt lightheaded, dizzy. She had to swallow before she spoke, and even then her voice was wobbly. "Send me back."

This wasn't her world. She had no interest in being there. Felicity wanted to go _home,_ back to her life and her family. If it took another, horrifying and painful trip to get there, she'd deal with it.

Dr. Selvig's drawn expression didn't change. "I'm sorry," he said again. "We can't. The Tesseract can draw people into this reality, but it doesn't connect well enough with other realities to send people away. Going back isn't possible."

Not possible? But if she didn't go home, she'd never see her mother or sister again. Even worse, her family would never know what had happened to her. Felicity would forever be a missing person. She'd be a mystery they would never find closure for. Their hearts would be broken, and there was nothing Felicity could do about it.

"No," she whispered. Then, more firmly, "No! There has to be a way back!"

Dr. Selvig shook his head. "If there was any way at all…"

Felicity swayed as her extremities started to feel numb. _No._ She heard footsteps on the gravel behind her, but couldn't summon the energy to care to look. Not as it sank in that she was really never going home again.

Her legs gave out. Black Widow and Dr. Selvig both lunged forward, but apparently whoever was behind her was closer, because Felicity felt him catch her with a muttered curse just before she blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

_Someone is carrying me._ It was Felicity's first thought when she regained consciousness. She blinked her eyes open, unnerved by the idea of a stranger holding her. The man was vaguely familiar, but Felicity couldn't place him. Sweat made his dirty blond hair stick up at odd angles, a bruise was forming on his cheekbone, and dust coated his face.

He glanced down at her. "Oh, good, you're awake. Think you can stand?"

"Yes," Felicity said. She wasn't sure, but she didn't like being carried, so she was going to try.

He set her down, holding her arm for a moment to make sure she was steady on her feet. To Felicity's relief, she could stand without toppling over again. Not that she'd have fallen far; they were in an elevator, Black Widow and Dr. Selvig present as well so there wasn't a lot of space.

 _I must not have been out for long._ A small blessing.

The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open, revealing what had probably once been an impressive room. It was large and spacious, one wall taken up by windows, though several were broken now. The marble floor was gouged and blackened in places, the bar across the room cracked and dripping with the no doubt expensive contents of different bottles. Furniture was overturned and broken. Several figures ranged around, but one dominated the room. This Avenger Felicity recognized, even though she'd only watched the movie once.

The Hulk had seemed like a ridiculous concept on screen. Guy can turn into a giant, super strong monster because of some kind of lab accident or something? Sounded like a boring male power fantasy to Felicity.

In person was another matter. The Hulk was huge, more than twice the size of anyone else there. His skin was dark green over bulging muscles, alien and intimidating all at once. Felicity was pretty sure she remembered him barreling through buildings like they were made from wet paper during the movie. She took a step back on reflex, nearly bumping into the man that had been carrying her.

"It's you."

Felicity reluctantly looked away from the Hulk to find the source of the voice. This man she quickly recognized as well, despite his worn and dusty appearance. After all, Captain America was her sister's favorite Avenger. But Felicity realized she recognized him from more than the poster on Ellie's wall. "You were on the plane," she blurted out. She could hardly believe she hadn't realized who he was before, but given the amount of pain and confusion she'd been in, perhaps it wasn't that surprising.

"Plane?" Dr. Selvig asked. "How many places did it take you?"

"I'm sorry, who is she, and when did she show up?"

Felicity glanced over at the new voice. It was Iron Man, though his fancy armor was much worse for the wear. His helmet was missing, the body dinged and scratched, and it made creaking noises she wasn't sure it was supposed to make when he moved.

"Loki brought her here with the Tesseract," the man who'd carried her answered. "She's from another reality, where our world is just a story. Loki was hoping to get information from whoever he brought over, but it didn't quite work the way he expected."

Everyone's attention shifted then, and Felicity followed the gaze of the group to two men. One was standing tall wearing a flowing cape and holding a hammer - Thor, she remembered. Sitting at his feet was the man in green and black that she'd seen twice before, though like the others, he was currently bruised and worn. He grimaced as his gaze met hers. "No," he said. "You arrived a bit late. And early, it would seem."

_He's Loki._

He was the one responsible for bringing her to this world. For separating her from her family and causing them needless pain. Felicity's hands curled into fists as hot anger bubbled up in her chest. This man had just single handily torn apart her whole life, and then had the nerve to chide her for being late.

She didn't realize she had taken a step forward until she felt the man's hand on her shoulder holding her back. "I get the sentiment," he said, "but you'll hurt your hand more than him if you hit him."

Right. Loki was an alien with delusions of godhood. Super strength and the durability that came with it was undoubtedly one of his powers. It didn't change the tight ball of anger swelling up inside her and she wanted to lash out at him somehow. Felicity glared at Loki. "It wouldn't have mattered when I got here. You picked the wrong person. I'm not a fan; I couldn't tell you anything anyway."

Loki's expression flickered, but Felicity didn't feel any sort of satisfaction at pointing out how completely his plan had failed. She was still there. She still couldn't go home.

Thor shifted, towering over Loki. "You will return her to her home, Loki."

Hope sparked. Was it possible? Could they get her home after all?

"Even if I was so inclined, I can't," Loki said, sparing a moment to look up at Thor. "Travel from other realities only goes one way. The Tesseract can't send her back."

And just like that, Felicity's hopes were crushed _. I feel sick._

She held it in. Felicity wouldn't let herself fall apart in front of strangers, and especially not Loki.

Iron Man held up a hand. "Is no one else here having a hard time processing that there's apparently another reality where we're fictional characters? Or is it just me?"

Black Widow shrugged. "We just fought off an alien invasion powered by a magic cube. Alternate realities don't seem that farfetched."

Iron Man opened his mouth, paused, and then sighed. "You know what? This sounds like a SHIELD problem."

"Speaking of," the man said - Felicity really needed to learn his name. "Fury is sending someone to pick us up, so we can debrief and start figuring out our next steps."

"Joy," Iron Man said, his flat tone and expression clearly saying how much he'd rather not do that.

Thor reached down, snagging Loki by the back of his jacket and dragging him to his feet. "Then let us go."

Hulk staggered suddenly, and Felicity flinched back, ready to bolt out of the way. But Hulk was staggering away from the group, his body shrinking down, the green pigment fading from his skin until he was the size of a normal man. He dropped to one knee, and Captain America moved over, reaching out to put a hand on his back. "Are you alright, Dr. Banner?"

"I'm fine," Hulk - Dr. Banner? what was she supposed to call them anyway? - said. There was a strain to his voice though, and his muscles trembled as he stood. Captain America stayed close to him.

There were too many of them to make only one trip down the elevator. Thor, Loki, Iron Man, Captain America, and Dr. Banner went down first, leaving Felicity, Black Widow, Dr. Selvig, and the guy who's name she still didn't know waiting. An awkward silence fell over their group. Felicity crossed her arms, staring without really seeing. _How long will it take them to realize I'm gone?_ How long had she even been gone from her world? It didn't feel like she'd been gone long, but the Tesseract had apparently bounced her around to different times in the Marvel universe. What that meant for time in her world, Felicity couldn't even begin to guess.

Dr. Selvig cleared his throat, getting her attention. "What's your name, miss?"

Felicity blinked, focusing in on him. "Felicity. Felicity Greene."

"I guess you already know who we are," the man said.

"Not really." She shrugged. "Like I said, I'm not a fan."

He seemed surprised. "You mean you weren't just trying to get at Loki with that jab?"

"No," Felicity said, irritation creeping into her tone. "I really don't like superhero movies."

"Ouch," he said. "Okay then, I'm Clint. That's Natasha, and Dr. Selvig."

The elevator dinged, interrupting the introductions. The four of them piled in. "I know this is hard," Dr. Selvig said as the elevator went down. "But Director Fury will make sure you're taken care of."

Felicity's throat tightened, and she couldn't find it in herself to respond. Dr. Selvig was trying to be kind, to offer some comfort, but Felicity wasn't ready to be comforted.

_When will they notice I'm gone?_

Her manager would be concerned when Felicity didn't show up for work and didn't call to let her know what was going on. Her friends would wonder, when she didn't show up for the afternoon study session that she had organized for their licensure exam in two weeks. Her mother would worry over their missed nightly phone call. Ellie would be annoyed and concerned that Felicity never responded to her texts. What would be the tipping point for them to realize that she was _gone_?

The elevator doors opened, letting them out into an open lobby area. The lobby was in better condition than the room they'd been in upstairs. The others were waiting for them. Someone had gotten Dr. Banner a t-shirt to wear, though Felicity couldn't begin to guess where they'd gotten it.

The group shuffled outside, and Felicity paused once they were through the doors. Down on the street, she could truly appreciate the damage that the alien invasion had done. From where she stood, she could spot wrecked cars, see billows of smoke from damaged buildings, and clearly hear the sirens of emergency vehicles. The dead bodies of the alien invaders littered the ground where they'd fallen, jogging Felicity's memory of the end of the movie and the way the aliens had all collapsed after the portal had been closed. An overly convenient event, she'd thought when she'd first seen the movie. Now though, seeing the aliens closer as well as the damage they'd caused, Felicity was glad that was how it had worked out.

Two black SUVs were approaching, the only moving vehicles on the road. It took them longer than it would have normally to reach the spot where the group waited, as they SUVs had to maneuver around other wrecked or abandoned vehicles, but they made it, and once they did everyone piled in. Felicity managed to snag a window seat in the middle row of one of them. The others were quiet during the drive, probably exhausted from the fight they'd just been through. Felicity was fine with that; she didn't feel like talking either. Instead, she stared out the window as the SUV drove along with frustrating slowness.

The amount of destruction they road by varied, sometimes worse than what she'd observed around the building she'd arrived at, sometimes not so bad. She couldn't help but cringe at the first collapsed building she saw. _This is awful._

It was one of the reasons that Felicity hated superhero movies. They never acknowledged how many people would probably die or be seriously injured if these sorts of things happened in real life. Sure, buildings collapsing on screen looked cool, but how many people would have been trapped inside them?

Here though – here, things were _real_. And those collapsed buildings and burning vehicles meant lives lost. They meant people hurting.

Ellie had always claimed that superhero stories were about hope, and that was why she loved them. Looking out the window of the SUV, Felicity didn't see hope. She saw a horror story instead.

The SUV's finally made it to their destination; a fancy plane, or jet, or whatever it was supposed to be. They offloaded from the vehicles and piled into the jet – quinjet, she heard someone call it. Felicity didn't bother to ask where they were going next. The destination really didn't seem to matter. It turned out that their flight was much shorter than the drive had been, and when the ramp lowered, Felicity saw that they were on the giant airship thing that SHIELD has used as a base during the movie.

_I should probably be impressed._

The view was objectively stunning. The city sprawled out on one side, the ocean glimmering in sunlight on the other. It was the kind of view that would typically inspire awe, but Felicity couldn't manage to feel anything beyond the numbing circle of _I'm never going home._

The group shuffled inside, where several people in suits were waiting for them. "Director Fury is ready to talk to you," a woman said. Her eyes flicked towards Felicity. "Except you, Ms. Greene." Felicity started a little at the use of her name; how did they know it already? "We'll deal with your situation once things have settled down. For now, if you could accompany Agent Klein."

It was worded like a question, but the tone said it was an order. Felicity didn't argue. Where else would she go? She simply followed the agent as he led her away from the Avengers down gray hallways. She lost track of the number of turns they took before the agent stopped in front of a plain, unmarked door. "You'll be staying here for now," Agent Klein said, the first words he'd spoken to her. "Someone will come get you later."

Felicity nodded. "Okay." He stayed still until she opened the door and stepped in the room. As she shut the door behind her, she could hear his footsteps heading away. Felicity looked around the room they'd put her in. It was smaller than her college dorm room, with no windows, and only a bed, a desk, and a chair for furniture. The one other door in the room opened to a cramped bathroom that had a sink, toilet, and a shower that was barely large enough to turn around in.

She sank into the desk chair. The room was quiet, and the silence pressed in on her, reminding Felicity of the terrible quiet that had accompanied her trip to this world. Felicity's mouth trembled, and now that she no longer had an audience, she couldn't hold back her sobs. She doubled over in the seat, pressing her hands against her mouth to stifle the noise.

Hot tears rolled down her face as the grief washed over her, the knowledge that she would never go home. She would never see her family again. Her life, her plans, they were so much ash in an instant.

Eventually Felicity's tears came to a stop. She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there crying; she was wearing a watch but hadn't looked at the time when she'd entered the room. _Someone's going to come for me eventually._ The thought propelled her out of the chair. She didn't want to let anyone find her like this.

Felicity went to the bathroom so she could wash the tear tracks off her face. It was a small improvement, but it would still be obvious to anyone who saw her red rimmed eyes that she'd been crying. Her blonde hair was half falling out of its ponytail, so she took a moment to fix that as well.

"Get it together, Felicity," she whispered to her reflection. There was a part of her that wanted to flop down on the bed and cry some more, but crying wasn't going to fix anything. She needed to do something.

Felicity strode back into the room and went to the desk. She searched through the drawers and found a notepad and a pen. She settled into the desk and tried to organize her thoughts. Felicity had no doubt that whenever they came for her, they'd want to find out whatever she might know. It wasn't much; she hadn't seen all the Marvel movies, and any information from movies prior to this one would probably be useless anyway. It couldn't hurt to write it down for them though.

 _Ellie would be better at this._ Not that Felicity wished her sister had been taken instead. But Ellie loved the Marvel movies. She got in debates with people about them, wrote essays that she posted online, watched the movies over and over. Especially that one Captain America movie, what was the name of it? Ellie had it playing on repeat as research for a fanfic, whatever that was supposed to mean. _The Winter Soldier, that was the title. That's the one where –_

The pen slipped from suddenly numb fingers and Felicity's heartbeat picked up. She'd just remembered the two plot twists of the Winter Soldier movie. One: Captain America's best friend from the 40s was still alive. Two: SHIELD – the organization that had her now, that was supposedly going to help her – was secretly evil.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve tugged the clean shirt over his head, grateful for the chance to finally shower and change. They'd debriefed with Fury, which had taken longer than any of them would have liked. Then they'd had to go to medical to make sure they were physically okay, which had just been an annoying waste of time. Steve didn't have any injuries that wouldn't heal within a day or so on their own. Once medical had cleared them, they were finally released to their own devices, and Steve's first move had been to find a shower.

_Do I eat or sleep next?_

His stomach rumbled, making the decision for him. Steve could generally go longer without sleep than food, and after that fight he was starving. He left the small room he'd commandeered for the moment and headed towards the Helicarrier's dining area. He hadn't made it far before Natasha fell in beside him. "Hey."

Steve gave her a quick once over. She was in clean clothes, her hair still damp from her own shower. She had to be exhausted but she didn't show it, carrying herself with a relaxed ease. _Peggy would have liked Natasha._

"Hey," he said. "Heading to get something to eat?"

"Yep," Natasha said. "I've got to get it to go though. And so do you. Fury wants to talk to us."

Steve sighed. "Of course he does." They'd already gone over everything relevant to the invasion, and it had been long enough that SHIELD's relief efforts were probably well under way. There was only one likely topic left that they needed to cover: that woman from the other world. Clint had said her name was Felicity.

"I'm guessing he wants to talk about Felicity?" Steve asked, just to confirm.

Natasha nodded. "Mmhm. She says she doesn't know anything, but Fury wants to make sure she isn't a security risk."

And Steve had seen her on the plane, so Fury probably wanted to know about that. _Good thing I didn't try to sleep yet after all._

They made it to the cafeteria, and Steve grabbed two sandwiches, a bag of chips, a package of cookies, and a bottle of water. It wasn't as much food as he would have liked, but it was the easiest to carry off. He'd have to go back later for more. Natasha got a sandwich and a soda, leaving off the sides. She led the way out of the cafeteria, and Steve followed her to a meeting room. It wasn't the meeting area on the bridge of the Helicarrier; apparently Fury had decided he wanted a more private setting for this conversation. Clint and Dr. Selvig - both of whom Steve had expected to see - were already in the room, seated at the table. Thor - whom Steve hadn't expected - was there as well. There was a coffee station in the corner of the room, and all three of them had helped themselves already.

Steve nodded at them, set his food down and made his way to the coffee station. It was more habit than anything else. Caffeine really didn't have an impact on him anymore, the same way alcohol didn't, so it wasn't like the coffee would help wake him up any. But drinking coffee with his team was a well ingrained habit, and even if this wasn't the team he was used to, Steve couldn't bring himself to break the pattern now. So, he filled the paper cup before sitting down.

He didn't have time for more than a bite of his first sandwich before the door opened again, letting Fury in the room. "We all know why we're here, and we're all tired," Fury said as he took a seat, setting a tablet on the table in front of him. "Let's go ahead and get started so we can hopefully get some rest sometime in the near future." He pointed at Thor. "You first. How could the Tesseract bring someone from another reality?"

Thor leaned forward, his hands clasped around the paper coffee cup. The cup looked ridiculously tiny in Thor's hands. "Your scientists noticed that the Tesseract produces immense amounts of energy. Their mistake was in assuming that was all it did. You see, the Tesseract is an Infinity Stone."

"What's an Infinity Stone?" Dr. Selvig asked. He'd pushed his coffee to the side in favor of a notebook and pen to take notes.

"Infinity Stones were formed when the universe began," Thor said. "They are among the most powerful artifacts in all the universe, and very difficult to control. There are six stones: the Power Stone, the Time Stone, the Soul Stone, the Mind Stone, the Reality Stone, and of course the Tesseract, which is the Space Stone."

"Where are the other stones?" Fury asked.

Thor shook his head. "I do not know. Over the millennia, the stones have been hidden or lost. My father was the one who hid the Tesseract centuries ago. I had no idea he'd hidden it on Midgard. I doubt you will find any others here though. Keeping two Infinity Stones in the same place would be far too dangerous."

"A pity this one was ever found, seeing what's come of it," Dr. Selvig said.

Steve didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but wonder how the war might have gone if Schmidt had never gotten his hands on the Tesseract in the first place. Certainly, without the Tesseract he'd never have been able to develop the weapons that he and his Hydra agents had used. If they hadn't had those, would Steve have ever ended up on that plane or buried in ice? It seemed unlikely. Without the Tesseract, he might have made it through the war and been able to go home. He might have actually had that dance with Peggy, and then -

Steve cut that thought off. It wasn't how things had gone, and it didn't do any good to dwell on it, especially not now, when he was supposed to be focusing on this meeting.

"Since the Tesseract is actually the Space Stone," Natasha said, "that's what lets it create those portals?"

"Its function is a bit more complicated than that," Dr. Selvig said. He straightened in his chair, and Steve recognized the look on his face. He was about to go into lecture mode.

"Keep it simple, Dr. Selvig," Fury said before he could get going.

Dr. Selvig sighed, deflating a little. "Essentially, yes, the Tesseract can create portals to other places. That's why it can put out such massive amounts of energy; the levels required in order to create portals between points that are billions of lightyears from each other is immense."

"And obviously it's also powerful enough to reach into another reality and pull someone back," Clint said. He took a long swallow of coffee and set the cup aside. "Let's go ahead and get to what we really need to talk about. Felicity."

Fury inclined his head. "Thor, Dr. Selvig, are you sure there is no way to return her home?"

Thor shrugged. "I am not familiar enough with the Tesseract's abilities to say. Loki says it is not possible, but I would not trust his word alone."

Dr. Selvig shook his head. "For once, Loki is telling the truth. It's..." He paused, frustration coloring his face. "I'm sorry. Loki's scepter, it opened my mind to many things when I was under its influence, but now that I'm free of it, things are sort of jumbled. But I am sure that there is no way for her to go back."

"A pity," Fury said. Steve studied him for a moment, but he couldn't tell if Fury genuinely felt bad for Felicity's situation, or if he was only disappointed that an easy fix wasn't available.

Steve felt for her. He understood what it was like to be torn from the world he knew and shoved into another, to suddenly find himself completely stripped of allies and forced to rely on strangers he could only hope were as good as they claimed to be.

He trusted the other Avengers now; they'd all proved themselves in this fight. He trusted Fury, to an extent. He was still wary of trusting SHIELD. After all, SHIELD had been using the Tesseract to create the same sort of weapons that Hydra had used in the war, and they'd lied about it; Steve understood the rationale behind it, but it didn't sit well with him. And while Fury had tried to stop that nuke, _someone_ in the higher echelons had decided that sending it after New York was an acceptable course of action to try and stop the invasion.

"What happened with summoning her?" Natasha asked. She'd finished her sandwich and folded up the plastic wrap neatly. "How did she end up on the roof of Stark Tower when she was summoned by Loki well before then?"

Dr. Selvig shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think Loki does either. Pulling someone from another reality is complicated business, and it would seem that she showed up temporarily multiple times."

"On the plane when Cap and Skull were fighting," Clint said counting off on his fingers, "that one time when Howard Stark was experimenting with the Tesseract, at the base where Loki showed up, for a couple seconds when Loki actually summoned her, and then on the roof of Stark Tower."

Fury's attention focused in on Steve. "Speaking of the plane; you never mentioned a woman showing up in your last transmission."

Steve had to keep himself from fidgeting. The idea that his last conversation with Peggy had been recorded, that who knew how many people had listened to it, made him deeply uncomfortable. Too much of that transmission had been personal.

"I didn't have a lot of time to talk, and it didn't seem like the most important thing to mention," Steve said. "Felicity showed up near the end of my fight with Schmidt. He'd just picked up the Tesseract, and then she just sort of appeared in a flash of blue light." It had been enough of a shock that Steve and Schmidt had actually paused in their fight. Even with all the strange things he'd seen up to that point, a woman suddenly shimmering into and then out of existence ranked up there.

"What happened then?" Fury asked.

Steve shrugged. "Not much. She was only there a few seconds. Just long enough to see us and then she disappeared again."

He didn't mention the way she'd been in obvious pain, the fear and confusion that had radiated from her face.

Fury tapped on the screen of the tablet in front of him. "We know she also appeared once when Howard Start was first experimenting with the Tesseract. We got a recording of that one." He slid the tablet down the table so the rest of them could see the screen.

Steve leaned forward, and his stomach clenched when he saw Howard, looking just as he had when Steve had known him. It still came as a shock, remembering that Howard was dead now.

On the screen there was a flash of blue light that knocked Howard off his feet. When the light faded, Howard was sprawled on the floor and Felicity was on her knees several feet away from him.

"Help me," she said. "I don't – I don't know what's happening!" She jerked back with a pained cry, and Howard pushed up off the ground. Before he could reach her, Felicity shimmered blue and shattered, just as she had on the plane.

"We also have a recording of her appearance in the base when Loki arrived," Fury said as a new video started playing on the screen.

The video changed, showing a large room that was set up as some kind of lab. A blue portal hovered in the center of the room, and Loki came through. As agents pointed their weapons at him, blue light shimmered to his right, and Felicity showed up again. This time she was curled up on the ground, and she didn't make any attempt to get up. Steve could see her mouth move, but whatever she was saying was too quiet for the camera to have picked up on it. She shimmered and disappeared again.

The videos ended, and Steve sat back in his chair. "Poor girl," Dr. Selvig said. "I wish we'd never been able to do this to her."

"It's not your fault, Dr. Selvig," Steve said quickly. It was a bad situation for Felicity, yes, but it wasn't something Dr. Selvig could have helped. Not after Loki had used the scepter to take control of him.

"The Captain is right," Thor said. His voice was grim and hard, and when Steve looked his way, he was surprised to see how serious Thor looked. "The fault for her plight lies with Loki."

"Regardless of whose fault it is," Fury said, "the fact remains that she is here now, and there's a very real possibility that she knows things about us that could make her a security risk."

"She told Loki she didn't know anything," Steve pointed out.

Natasha shook her head. "She said that, but I don't believe her. She knows enough that Dr. Selvig didn't have to explain where she was; Felicity figured that out on her own when she saw Tony in the suit."

"I don't think she was lying about not being a fan though," Clint said.

"Doesn't mean she can't know things," Natasha said. "Maybe more than she realizes."

"And what if she does?" Steve asked. He met Fury's stare. "What are you planning to do with her?"

Fury leaned back, resting his elbows on the armrest of his chair and lacing his fingers together in front of him. "I'm not planning to keep her prisoner, Captain, if that's what you're worried about. Right now, my plan for Ms. Greene is to help her set up a life; SHIELD will create an identity and history for her, and help her get started here. If she knows things that could put us at risk, we'll monitor her to be sure she doesn't accidentally let that information slip. If she doesn't know anything, then we'll leave her alone."

_Alone, huh._

It was probably the best that Fury could do for her, and certainly it was no small thing. Steve didn't know how Felicity could manage to start a life in this world without help from someone. But ultimately, she was still going to be left alone in a strange world, and Steve knew how hard that was.

_Maybe I can help._

"When are you going to talk with her?" Natasha asked.

"Tomorrow," Fury said. "I think we could all use a rest before we dive into that." He turned his attention to Thor. "After all this, I believe it would be best to send the Tesseract back to Asgard with you. Your people may be better equipped to protect it from those that would misuse it."

Steve stared at Fury in surprise. Sending the Tesseract away from SHIELD wasn't a move that he would have guessed that Fury would make. His opinion of Fury rose in that moment; SHIELD had one leader at least that was willing to learn from mistakes.

"Very well," Thor said. "However, I would like to stay until Felicity is settled. As her plight is the fault of one of my family, I feel it is my duty to make sure she will be well."

"Can we contain Loki that long?" Clint asked. "Not trying to rush you off, but ours strongest cage isn't exactly available anymore."

"I do not believe that Loki will try to escape," Thor said. "Not when he no longer has an army to back him. But I will personally guard him while we are here."

Steve didn't share Thor's confidence. He didn't think Loki would try to take over Earth again any time soon, but that didn't mean Loki wouldn't run to try and avoid Asgardian justice.

"We could see if Bruce would be willing to guard him too," Clint added. He smirked as he said it, but there was an edge to his voice that suggested it wasn't really a joke at all. "Bet Loki wouldn't want to make him angry again."

Steve wasn't sure how thrilled Bruce would be to guard Loki like that, but it would probably work. "Can't hurt to ask him," Natasha said. She glanced Steve's way. "You should be the one to ask."

"Me?" Steve asked blankly. "Why me?"

"He's more likely to tell you yes," she said. "He likes you."

"I'm not sure," Steve started, but Natasha cut him off.

"He listened to you when he was the Hulk," she said. She raised one shoulder in a shrug. "Means he likes you, so you get to ask."

Steve sighed. "Fine, I'll ask. Where is Bruce anyway?"

"Should be with Tony at the lab," Clint said. "They were making sure that the Tesseract was contained properly before they left."

"I'm going then," Steve said. That seemed to bring an end to the meeting. They dispersed from the room, Steve making his way back to the lab where they'd spent much of their time that morning. As predicted, Tony and Bruce were both there, along with other SHIELD personnel.

"That should do it," Bruce was saying, stepping back from a metal container, a tablet in his hand. Bruce had taken time to clean up, but he clearly hadn't rested yet. There were bags under his eyes, and he was looking a little on the pale side. _Did he decide containing the Tesseract took priority, or does he not want to sleep?_

"Good," Tony said. He'd gotten himself out of the damaged suit by now. He stretched, and spotted Steve by the doorway. "Cap. What're you doing here?"

"I actually came by to ask Bruce a favor," Steve said. "But I'm starting to think I should let you sleep first. Have you rested at all yet?"

Bruce grimaced. "Not yet. I'll be fine. The Tesseract needed to be handled."

"Well, it's been handled," Tony said. "Cap's right, you need to sleep."

"We all need sleep," Bruce said. "There's still too much going on." He turned towards Steve. "What was the favor?"

"Nothing you can help with right now," Steve said. He'd seen enough exhausted men to recognize when someone was hitting their limit, and Bruce was teetering on the edge. "Get some rest first. Just make sure you find me before you leave."

For a second it looked like Bruce might protest, but then he sighed and set the tablet down on the table. "Fine, you two win." He waved a hand at them. "But if I have to go to bed, I expect the two of you to get some rest soon as well."

"I think we've all earned a nap," Tony agreed. Bruce shuffled out, Steve moving to the side so he could get through the doorway. Tony crossed his arms and leaned back against the table. "So, you heard anything about what Fury plans to do with the Tesseract now?"

"He's sending it with Thor to Asgard," Steve told him.

Tony's brows went up. "Seriously?"

Steve nodded, walking closer. "Just came from a meeting. That's what he said."

"Surprisingly mature of him," Tony said. "When's Point Break going?"

"That depends on Felicity," Steve said. "Thor wants to make sure she's going to be okay, considering..."

"Considering it's his brother's fault she's here," Tony filled in. "Makes sense I guess." He stared off in the distance for a moment. "Still weirds me out. The idea of just being a story to some other world."

Steve laughed a little. "Not much stranger than having your life on display in a museum."

"Guess not," Tony said. He glanced back towards the box. "Would love to know how the Tesseract made bringing her here work." He straightened up from the table. "Speaking of the Tesseract, where's it going until Thor leaves?"

Steve frowned. "Fury didn't say." It wasn't a good idea to leave it unattended, or to leave it with Thor while he was also guarding Loki. Making a decision, Steve picked up the box. It was small enough to be easily carried in one arm without being too bulky. "I'll keep hold of it for now."

"Sounds good to me," Tony said. He yawned suddenly, covering his mouth with one hand. "I think this is my cue to leave." He paused a moment and then added, "If you need anything, Cap, just give me a call."

The offer came as a surprise; he and Tony certainly hadn't started off on the right foot that morning. Steve could admit that was partially his own fault. He'd read the SHIELD files on Tony and had come to a snap judgement about his character, a judgement that Tony had proved completely wrong throughout this day. "Thanks, Tony," he said. He meant it, and for more than just this offer.

Tony waved a hand and walked away. Steve made his own way back to the room he'd claimed earlier. He wasn't sure how long it would be before they left the Helicarrier, and he planned to make good use of the time he had. Once back in the room, he stashed the box with the Tesseract under the bunk, and then flopped down on the mattress. He closed his eyes, let his muscles relax. His last thought before he drifted off was to hope that maybe this time he wouldn't dream.


	4. Chapter 4

Felicity paced in the room they'd left her in. She wished she could ask for a track to run on. Running always helped clear her head so she could think. She didn't ask though. Didn't want to ask SHIELD for anything. Not until she figured out what she was going to do.

For the most part, SHIELD had left her alone. Agent Klein had brought her supper (it turned out she'd arrived in the afternoon) and then come back half an hour later to take the tray from her. So far, that had been the extent of Felicity's interactions with anyone. She didn't mind though; the longer they left her alone, the better.

Felicity was desperately trying to come up with a plan. Normally she'd be trying to work through it on paper, but given she'd remembered SHIELD was evil, Felicity didn't dare. She didn't want the bad guys finding out that she knew about them.

 _Okay, okay, so SHIELD is actually evil._ Or, well, partly evil at least. She remembered there were also people in SHIELD that hadn't known about the evil stuff, and they'd tried to stop it once they found out. Problem was, Felicity had never paid enough attention to the movie to remember who most of those people were.

She knew Captain America – Steve? – was trustworthy at least, and Natasha had helped him, so she could be trusted too. Director Fury was good, but Felicity was pretty sure she remembered him being killed by the Winter Soldier fairly early in the movie.

Felicity stopped pacing as that thought sank in. A man was going do die, and she knew about it. She'd never cared, when it was just a movie. They were fictional characters, no one was actually dying, so it didn't matter. But this wasn't fake. Director Fury had a death sentence hanging over him, and Felicity was the only one who knew about it.

Then there was the Winter Soldier guy. What had his name been? Buddy? No, Bucky. The bad guys had brainwashed him into being an assassin. He wasn't actually evil, he was being forced to commit evil acts, which was incredibly horrific when Felicity took the time to think about it.

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut. _This isn't my problem._ Her problem was figuring out how she was going to survive in this crazy world. Step one was probably getting as far away from superheroes and _their_ problems as she could.

Except…except she knew. She knew there were evil people mixed up in SHIELD, she knew they were going to kill Director Fury, she knew they were keeping an innocent man tortured and brainwashed. Felicity knew zilch about the timeline of the Marvel universe, so she didn't know exactly _when_ the events of the Winter Soldier movie were going to happen, but it was all coming.

Felicity groaned, opening her eyes and looking up at the ceiling as she wished for guidance. She might not know much about the superhero genre as a whole, but Felicity wasn't dumb. She knew if she told Director Fury or anyone else what she knew and it got back to the bad guys, they'd want to stop her. They'd probably either try to capture her so they could get information to use against the good guys – information she didn't have, not really, she couldn't think of anything she knew that might cause the good guys harm – or the bad guys would decide to kill her to keep her quiet. Either way, trying to warn them was guaranteed to put Felicity at risk.

_Does it matter?_

Felicity blinked at the thought. Turned it over in her mind as she sank down into the desk chair. Did it matter if she was in danger? If she died? It wasn't like there was any hope of her returning home. All the people that Felicity loved and cared about would be mourning her already, no matter if she lived or died in the Marvel universe. The future she'd planned for herself was long gone.

Here, in this world, there was no one that would mourn her passing, if something should happen to her. There was no one who would celebrate if she survived either. In this world, Felicity didn't really exist. But the others did. The good guys at SHIELD had lives, families. They did work that impacted the whole world. Their lives _mattered._ Felicity's life…didn't.

The realization made Felicity feel hollow, like everything in her had been scraped clean and discarded, leaving only an empty, dull ache behind. But it made her decision pretty simple.

Suddenly, Felicity was exhausted down to her bones. She moved out of the chair and collapsed on the bunk, not bothering to kick off her shoes or get under the covers. She closed her eyes and let the exhaustion drag her down to sleep.

* * *

_Felicity was floating in a blue void. There was nothing around, just a silent, blue emptiness. Time had no meaning. She could have been there for seconds or years, and it wouldn't have made a difference. The void was unchanging and she was alone._

_Then she heard the whisper. Only it wasn't hearing so much as the words crawling into her brain and planting themselves there._

**" _You are remade."_**

* * *

Felicity startled awake, for a moment disoriented by the lingering memory of her strange dream. Then the knock came again, and Felicity sat up, pushing her hair our of her face; most of her hair had fallen out of the ponytail she'd had it in when she'd fallen asleep. She tugged the hair tie out of her hair, letting it loose as she went to the door. She wasn't surprised to find Agent Klein waiting for her when she opened the door.

"Good morning," he said. "I'm supposed to take you to breakfast, and then you'll meet with Director Fury."

"Oh," Felicity said. "Okay." She stepped out into the hall, letting the door swing shut behind her. She ran her fingers through her hair as she followed Agent Klein, pulling her hair up into a loose bun.

 _Is Agent Klein one of the good guys or bad guys?_ It was unnerving to think that the agent walking with her might actually be evil, and she had no way of knowing.

Agent Klein led her to a cafeteria. It was mostly empty. Felicity didn't have much of an appetite, but she needed to eat something, so she grabbed a tray and went through the line, getting scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. She also got a cup of coffee to go with it and then claimed a seat at an empty table. Agent Klein sat across from her. He didn't have any food; presumably he'd already eaten. Instead, he busied himself on his phone while Felicity ate.

It was about as good as cafeteria food ever was. Felicity forced it down anyway, though she couldn't help her grimace at the overly bitter taste of the coffee. It didn't take her long to eat, especially without any conversation to distract her. Agent Klein must have been paying some attention to her, because as soon as she was done he stood.

"This way," he said.

Felicity dropped the tray off in the designated area, and then followed him down the halls. _This place feels like a maze._ She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to find her way back to the room she'd stayed in if she had to do it alone.

Agent Klein opened a door for her and motioned for her to enter the room. She did, and he didn't follow, closing the door behind her instead. The room seemed like a small conference room, dominated mostly by a long table. Unlike her room, it had windows on one wall, letting in morning sunlight. Several people were already in the room: Natasha, Clint, Thor, and a tall black man with an eyepatch that Felicity was fairly sure was Director Fury. He was seated at the head of the table, with Natasha and Clint on his left, Thor one seat down to his right.

Natasha and Clint were no longer in uniforms, but dressed down in normal civilian clothes, which was strange to see. Director Fury was dressed in all black, including a trench coat, which seemed suitably dramatic for his role. Thor was wearing his armor and cape from the day before, though he'd obviously cleaned up. For all Felicity knew, it might be the only outfit he had with him.

"Ms. Greene, please have a seat," Director Fury said motioning to the empty chair between him and Thor. Felicity settled in the chair he indicated. "I am Director Fury," he introduced himself, as though his identity might not be obvious. "I understand that you're in a stressful situation. I assure you, I will do everything that I can to help you begin a life in this world. But before we get started on that, I do need to ask you some questions."

Felicity nodded. "You need to know how much I know."

"So, you do know something then," Natasha said.

Felicity shrugged. "Not much." She glanced up at Director Fury; he was real, he was living and breathing, he was trying to help her, and if she didn't do something he was slated to die. "Nothing that would have helped Loki, but some that might help you guys. Is – is Captain America around? He needs to hear this too."

Director Fury raised the one eyebrow that she could see, but he directed his words towards Clint. "Agent Barton, is Captain Rogers with Dr. Banner and Loki?"

"Last I saw," Clint said.

"Have Agent Klein retrieve him, please," Director Fury said. Clint got up and went to the door. Agent Klein must have stayed nearby in the hallway after dropping Felicity off.

While Clint was speaking with Agent Klein, Thor shifted to better look down at Felicity. "Lady Felicity." She looked up at him, a little surprised by the fact that he was speaking to her as well as by the way he addressed her. "Are you well? Physically, I mean," he hastily added. "I understand your journey was…difficult."

 _That's one word for it._ It wasn't the word Felicity would have chosen. Nightmarish seemed more accurate. She'd been torn apart and put back together over and over, at levels of pain she hoped never to experience again.

"I feel fine today," Felicity said, a little surprised to realize that it was true. The exhaustion and aches that had followed her after the journey seemed to have been cured by a night's sleep. Physically she felt normal.

"Good, good," Thor said, nodding his head. He seemed genuinely relieved by her answer. "I wish you to know that I do take responsibility for the harm that my brother has done to you. If you need anything, you need only let me know and I will do whatever I may to see to it."

"Oh, I – thank you," Felicity said, at a loss for how to respond. She had in no way expected Thor to feel like he owed her because of what Loki had done. It wasn't his fault that she had been brought here.

The door swung open, and Captain America walked in. He was dressed down too, which was even stranger for Felicity than seeing Natasha and Clint out of uniform. She wasn't as familiar with Natasha, and honestly, she didn't remember Clint at all. But she was used to seeing the poster of Captain America on Ellie's wall, where he was in his costume, and that was the mental image Felicity had of him. Out of uniform he looked pretty much like a normal guy. The idea of calling him Captain America when he just looked like a person felt faintly ridiculous, and Felicity resolved not to do it. She'd call him by his name, unless told to do otherwise.

"Agent Klein said you asked for me, sir?" Steve said.

"Please, sit," Director Fury said. "Ms. Greene has some information to share with us, and she said it was important for you to hear it."

Steve sat down next to Clint, glancing Felicity's way with frank curiosity on his face. Director Fury addressed her, "Ms. Greene, if you don't mind?"

"Right," she said. Felicity shifted in her seat, discomforted by all of them watching her. It suddenly occurred to her for the first time that there was a chance they wouldn't believe her about what was coming. She was a stranger from another world, and she was about to tell them that the organization they had dedicated themselves to was actually the enemy. That meant some of their friends were actually their enemies. People they'd worked with, maybe people they'd saved or who had saved them. And they were just supposed to believe the wild story she was about to give them because she said so.

_There are lives in the balance. I have to try._

"Right, so," she said again. "In my world, there's a whole series of movies about this one. Like I said before, I'm not really a fan, but my…my sister is. Ellie plays them a lot, so I've seen some. Enough to learn a few things." Felicity paused a moment, trying to decide the best way to get into what she knew. She didn't think listing off what she knew like a list of bullet points would be the most effective method. "Have you ever heard of the Winter Soldier?"

"I have," Director Fury said, Natasha and Clint nodding in agreement.

Steve frowned. "I haven't."

"Nor have I," Thor said.

"He's a myth," Clint said. "A ghost story among assassins. Supposedly he's been around for something like fifty, sixty years. Shows up every couple of years, kills a particularly hard to get to target, then vanishes. Or so the story goes."

"He's real," Natasha said. Her green eyes were hard and flat. "I don't know that it's been the same person for sixty years, but a Winter Soldier _does_ exist."

Thor eyed her. "You've fought with him."

She inclined her head. "I don't know that I'd call it a fight, exactly. He went after a target I'd been assigned to protect. Sniped the man right through me."

Felicity spoke up in the pause that followed Natasha's statement. "He is real. And – look, I don't know the timeline of the movies, so I don't know when exactly this is supposed to happen. But at some point, he's going to come after you." She looked at Director Fury as she spoke. Felicity hated to say the next words, but he needed to know. "In the movie, he kills you."

The room stayed quiet. Director Fury looked…shockingly unalarmed, considering the news Felicity had just dropped on him. He looked more thoughtful than anything else. "You wouldn't happen to know who sends him after me, would you?"

She shrugged a little. "Generic, evil, middle-aged white guy in a suit." They seemed less than impressed with Felicity's description, and she didn't really blame them. "Look, I don't remember his name, and honestly, I probably wouldn't recognize him if I saw him, but I know what organization he worked with. But, um, that's where stuff starts to get complicated."

"Can't be that complicated," Clint said. He'd leaned his chair back at some point so he was balancing on the back two legs. "You tell us who the organization is, and we take care of them, deal with the Winter Soldier, and boom, no dead Fury. Course that'd all be easier to do if you'd stop dancing around the information and just tell us."

She'd been dancing around it because she'd been hoping to think of a not awful way to tell them, but she supposed one probably didn't exist. _Just tell them. Make it fast, like ripping off a band-aid._

"Alright, first complication. He works for SHIELD," Felicity said. "Turns out like half the organization is secretly evil, because you guys were infiltrated from the beginning by that one evil group, um," she pointed a finger at Steve, "the ones you fought in the war, with the dumb logo."

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "Hydra."

"Yes, them," Felicity said. "The other complication is that Winter Soldier is actually Bucky. At some point Hydra captured him, and brainwashed him into becoming a super assassin."

"That's impossible," Steve snapped, his voice sharp and hard. Felicity eyed him warily; he'd gone rigid, the hand he'd had resting on the table clenched into a fist. "Bucky _died_. I _watched_ him fall from the train."

Felicity heard what he didn't say. He'd watched Bucky fall, believed him dead, and hadn't looked for him. She kept her voice gentle when she replied. "He survived. I don't know how, but he did, and Hydra found him."

Steve closed his eyes, head bowing slightly. Felicity felt sympathy well up for his obvious distress. If she remembered right, Bucky had been Steve's best friend. To find out suddenly that he was alive, that he'd been captured and brainwashed by the enemy and forced to kill for them for decades…Felicity couldn't even imagine what that felt like.

He opened his eyes again, his expression hard and determined. "Do you have any idea where they're keeping him?"

Felicity frowned, worrying her bottom lip as she thought. "No, I'm sorry. If the movie ever said where he was, I missed it." Bucky had mostly been the one tracking them down, the way she remembered it.

"Is there anything else?" Director Fury asked.

Felicity moved her attention back to him. "Um, I think there was some kind of elaborate plot for Hydra to murder everyone that could even potentially become a threat to them, but I don't remember how they planned to pull that off."

Clint let the front legs of his chair hit the ground. "You know, I'm starting to see what you meant by saying things were complicated."

His tone was calmer than Felicity thought he had any right to be, given what she'd just told them. In fact, Clint, Natasha, and Director Fury didn't seem to react much at all to the idea that SHIELD was actually their enemy. Thor's expression was more concerned than any of them, and he wasn't even part of SHIELD. Steve was the only one that seemed to be having a truly normal reaction to the situation.

"What are we going to do?" Steve asked, looking over at Director Fury.

"You are not going to do anything," Director Fury said.

"Not do – " Steve sputtered, "Felicity just told us that _Hydra –_ "

Director Fury held up a hand, cutting off the flow of words. "Ms. Greene has given us serious warnings, but not nearly enough detail to act on them yet. Now that I know I need to look for traitors within SHIELD, I will find them. But until we have the information we need, we will not act rashly. Is that understood, Captain?"

There was a tick in his jaw, and Steve glared at Director Fury. Tension built during their staring match, then suddenly Steve seemed to deflate a little, dropping his gaze. "Yes, sir." He sat back slightly in his chair, still clearly unhappy with Director Fury's decision.

Director Fury nodded. "Good. What we have discussed here is not to be shared with anyone. If someone asks, we will stick with Ms. Greene's original statement that she doesn't know anything about this world." He waited for everyone to nod in confirmation. "Thor, Ms. Greene, Captain Rogers. You are free to go for now. I need to speak with Agents Romanoff and Barton a bit longer."

They three of them stood and left the room. Agent Klein was still waiting in the hall. He stepped towards them, but Steve said, "We've got her. You can go do whatever."

Agent Klein paused, frowning. "I've been assigned to Ms. Greene."

"And I said we've got her," Steve snapped, a hard edge to his voice that made Felicity eye him warily. His temper was clearly on an extremely short fuse. Not that Felicity blamed him for that, not given the information he'd just learned. But Felicity had no idea what he might be like when he was angry, even if he was one of the good guys. She'd just as soon be out of his way if he was going to lose his temper.

Apparently, Agent Klein felt the same way, because after a moment's hesitation he nodded and walked away. "Come on," Steve said to Felicity and Thor. He started walking in the opposite direction of Agent Klein, and Felicity reluctantly followed, Thor by her side.

"Are you sure," Steve asked, looking back at Felicity, "that you don't know where they're keeping him?"

It wasn't hard to figure out who Steve was asking about. Felicity frowned, wracking her brain. She didn't know where Bucky was, but maybe there'd been something in the movie that could act as a clue for Steve, even if it didn't really mean anything to her. A memory sparked, and Felicity snapped her fingers. "Oh! Um, no, I don't know where he is, but I think I know where you could go to find out."

Steve nodded. "That's good enough." Before Felicity could start to tell him what she'd remembered, Steve looked up at Thor. "Are you in? Or are you going to try to stop me?"

Felicity blinked, glancing between the two men. _Wait, what?_

Thor seemed to consider the question. "A quest to save a friend is a noble one. And I am no longer comfortable allowing the Tesseract or Loki to remain here, nor do I trust them with Lady Felicity's safety. We will join you."

Steve nodded. "Good. We probably shouldn't let Bruce stay here either."

Felicity stopped walking. "Wait, hold on. What are you guys talking about?"

Steve reached back and caught her upper arm, tugging her along with them. "We're getting out of here."

Felicity's jaw dropped. "But Director Fury said – "

"I heard him," Steve said. Felicity stared up at him, realizing his reluctant agreement to Director Fury's order not to do anything in the meeting had been a farce. He looked down at her. "You telling me you want to stay here?"

Well, no, Felicity wasn't exactly eager to stick around with SHIELD, not knowing who may or may not be a bad guy. But rushing off without permission and without a plan didn't seem like a great idea either.

He must have interpreted her silence as agreement, because he let go of her arm. Felicity kept walking with them. _This seems like a bad idea._

Steve paused in front of an unmarked door. "Just a second," he said. He opened the door, and Felicity saw it was a room identical to the one they'd let her stay in, except this one had some personal items in it. Steve's stuff, she guessed.

He grabbed a bag and shoved his Captain America costume in it, as well as a small, metal box. He slung the bag over one shoulder and picked up his trademark shield with his other hand. "Let's get the others and go."

Steve led the way, Felicity following behind him and Thor bringing up the rear. It didn't seem to take long at all before they made it to the holding areas. A man was sitting in a chair in the hallway, doing something on a tablet. He looked up as they approached, and Felicity only made the connection that 'Bruce' was Dr. Banner when she saw him. Her steps faltered for a second, the memory of him as the Hulk welling up. _They want to bring him too?_ Felicity could understand why they wouldn't want to leave him in Hydra's reach, but Felicity was reluctant to spend more time near him than necessary.

"Bruce, we've got to go," Steve said.

His brow furrowed. "Go where?"

Thor walked up to the door of Loki's cell. "Is there a way to open this that will not set off alarms?"

"Yes, but why would you want to?" Bruce asked.

"There's no time to explain," Steve told him. "I just need you to trust me when I say the five of us need to leave now."

Bruce glanced between them. Felicity crossed her arms when his gaze landed on her. Finally, he looked back at Steve. "Okay, but I don't actually know the codes that would let Loki out. We'd need a SHIELD agent to do it."

Steve grimaced. "Thor, do it."

Before Felicity could ask what exactly Steve was telling him to do, Thor punched the control panel by the door, his fist sinking in up to his wrist. A shrill alarm immediately blared, and the door to Loki's cell slid open. Loki walked to the entrance, eyeing all of them. "You know, I'm not certain I want to go with you."

"You don't have a choice, brother," Thor said. He grabbed Loki by the shoulder and pushed him down the hall.

Felicity followed the group, her steps reluctant. Every minute this course of action seemed worse, and she couldn't help but wonder if it would actually have been so bad to just do as Director Fury had said. Steve noticed her starting to lag behind and caught her wrist in his hand, pulling her along. "You've got to stick with us," he told her.

"Actually," Felicity said, "I was thinking – "

"You're coming," Steve said, a finality in his voice that left no room for argument. Neither did the firm grip he kept on her wrist, and Felicity realized with a jolt that he wasn't actually giving her a choice in the matter.

Three agents appeared at the end of the hall, weapons in hand. They came to a confused halt when they saw who was coming. "What's going on?" one of them demanded.

"Stand aside," Thor said. "We have important business to tend to."

They glanced between themselves, still seeming confused, but as Thor continued forward at his fast pace they did as he said, lowering their weapons and moving to the side to let them pass. _I can't believe that just worked._ Maybe it shouldn't be that shocking. Thor, Steve, and Bruce had just helped fight off an alien invasion and save the world. The agents didn't know that they were currently going against Fury's orders. Plus, Thor was like six and half feet of pure muscle. Who exactly would want to stand in his way?

The alarm cut off as suddenly as it had started, and the silence worried Felicity nearly as much as the wailing had. They made it to a set of stairs and as they started up something whizzed past Felicity's face. There was a sharp pop, and then a cloyingly sweet smoke billowed around them.

"Do any of you know the meaning of acting rashly? Because this is definitely it." It was Clint's voice, but Felicity didn't have the chance to turn and look. Steve was dragging her up the stairs with him as she coughed, trying to clear the smoke from her airways. She stumbled over a step, her limbs going heavy.

"Steve," she gasped, blinking sudden spots out of her vision.

He pulled her closer, and the next thing Felicity knew she was over his shoulder. She clung to the back of his shirt, because falling now would be really painful. She squinted her eyes, and through the smoke she caught sight of Clint knocking another arrow to his bow. It was the last thing she saw before the smoke overwhelmed her senses and she passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick watched the screens grimly. He hadn't been fooled by Steve's concession in the meeting. He'd known very well that the man was going to do something rash and stupid. Nick had simply made the mistake of thinking that Steve would wait longer than thirty seconds to do it.

He spoke through the secure line that would only go to Natasha and Clint. "Let them get away." He doubted his agents could contain all of them. Even if they could, now that Steve had gone and done this, is was probably better that they got away than remain where operatives of Hydra could easily reach them. This would put Hydra on high alert where they were concerned.

_Rogers, if you would have just trusted me._

Maybe he would have if the timing of Felicity's revelation had been different. In Steve's mind, he'd been fighting Hydra only two weeks ago. He'd _died_ fighting Hydra. Now he found out that Hydra was still around, wrapped up in SHIELD, using them as a cover. Under those circumstances, trust was just too much to ask for.

So as Nick watched, Steve and his team commandeered a quinjet and took off. This time Nick spoke to the channel that would go out to everyone. "Do not pursue. I repeat, do not pursue."

After sending the message, Nick turned and left the small room he'd been observing from to head to the helm of the helicarrier. Maria was waiting for him. "Sir, we're just going to let them leave with a quinjet?"

"What would you have me do, Hill?" Nick asked. "Shoot down half the Avengers? After they just saved the world?" She frowned, and he continued. "Besides, we have a tracker in all of our jets. We'll know where they land and take care of it."

"Speaking of it, sir," Maria said. "What's going on here? Why'd they break Loki out and run?"

And this was the part Nick didn't like to do, but Steve hadn't exactly left him with a lot of choices in the matter. Not if Nick wanted to be able to keep operating without raising Hydra's suspicions. "It was that woman Loki brought over. She managed to convince Captain Rogers, Thor, and Dr. Banner that we're the enemy, and they can't trust us."

"That's ridiculous," Maria protested.

"Agreed," Nick said. "But unfortunately, she managed it. Keep monitoring the quinjet they took; let me know when and where it lands."

She nodded, then hesitated. "Sir, do any of them actually know how to fly a quinjet?"

Nick stared at her, then looked out the window to the blue skies. _Rogers, if you get your team killed from sheer stupidity, I will find a way to bring you back and kill you myself._

* * *

"You mean to tell me we just stole a jet that none of us know how to fly?"

Steve winced at Bruce's incredulous question. Though, to be fair, he had reason to be upset. Steve had been able to get the quinjet in the air – he'd watched people do it a couple times now, and remembered how they had done it – but that was about the extent of his knowledge when it came to quinjets. Luckily no one from SHIELD was chasing them, so there wasn't any need for fancy flying at the moment.

"We didn't really have a lot of options for getting off the helicarrier," Steve said. He glanced over his shoulder from his place in the pilot's seat. Thor had gotten Felicity – who was still unconscious – strapped in a seat. Loki was in another seat across from her. Bruce had claimed the copilot's chair. "I'm sure we'll figure it out," Steve said.

"Figure it out," Bruce grumbled. "Like it's that easy." He shot a look Steve's way. "So, are you going to explain now why we had to run from SHIELD?"

Steve did, keeping the explanation brief but covering what Felicity had told them. When he was done, Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well that's just…horrible. What's your plan now?"

"Right now, it's not crashing the quinjet," Steve said.

"Uh-huh. And how are we going to manage that?"

Steve hesitated, studying the buttons and dials and various other things on the quinjet's dash. "I'm going to call Tony."

_I really hope Tony can talk us through this._

Luckily his phone had enough signal to call Tony, and even luckier, Tony actually answered his call. "Hey, Cap. Wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon."

"Uh, yeah, I need a favor," Steve said. "Any chance you can walk me through how to fly a quinjet?"

"What? Why would you need that? Doesn't SHIELD have plenty of pilots to fly you wherever?"

"Yeah, well, about SHIELD," Steve started.

Bruce held out a hand. "Give me the phone, please."

Steve hesitated, but handed it over at the stern look Bruce shot him. Bruce put Tony on speakerphone. "So apparently, according to Felicity, Hydra secretly infiltrated SHIELD from the very beginning. At some point in the future, though she doesn't know when, they're going to assassinate Director Fury. They have Steve's friend from the 40's brainwashed and forced to be a super assassin for them. Oh, and they're working on some kind of plan to murder millions of innocent people.

It seems that Director Fury wanted to wait and try and learn more information before acting, but Steve decided it was too big a risk to leave Felicity where Hydra could get to her – oh, or the Tesseract or Loki – so now we're all on the run from SHIELD in a jet that none of us know how to fly. Did I miss anything?"

Thor called out from the back, "Lady Felicity is still unconscious from that gas."

"Right, thank you," Bruce said.

There was a moment of silence on Tony's end of the phone. "Guys, I am way too sober for this."

Steve huffed. "Tony, can you help us out or not?"

"Obviously I'm going to help," Tony said. "Where are you trying to get to anyway?"

"I'm going after Bucky," Steve said. "Felicity said she knew where I might be able to find out where they're keeping him. It's – " he stopped abruptly.

"Cap," Tony said slowly, "did she tell you the destination before she was knocked unconscious?"

"No," Steve said. "There, uh, wasn't exactly a chance."

Tony let out a short curse. "Did you at least steal a quinjet with plenty of fuel?"

Steve eyed the various gauges on the dash. Presumably one of them monitored the amount of fuel, but it wasn't exactly obvious which was which. He glanced at Bruce and Thor, who had ambled up from the back. Thor just shrugged, seeming as baffled by the system as Steve was, and Bruce shook his head. Steve cleared his throat. "Which one is the fuel gauge?"

"You know what, forget it," Tony said. "I'm in a suit, I'm coming to you."

"How are you…?" Steve started

"I'm tracking the signal from your phone," Tony said. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Tony," Steve said. "I appreciate it."

"Oh no, don't thank me," Tony said. "You owe me for this one."

Steve shrugged a little. That was probably fair.

"In the meantime," Tony continued, "anyone got a good guess as to why SHIELD isn't chasing you right now? Considering that you're kind of on the run from them."

"Director Fury is still an ally," Thor said. "He would not wish us to come to harm."

"And there aren't a lot of options for getting us out of the sky that don't involve missals," Bruce finished. "Following us probably isn't necessary anyways. This _is_ SHIELD we're dealing with. They probably have trackers on all of their quinjets."

"Have any of you wondered," Loki said, speaking up for the first time since they'd stolen the jet, "exactly what sort of story Director Fury has had to spin about the situation?"

Everyone turned to look at him. Loki shrugged, looking far more relaxed than Steve thought he had a right to look. "Is this really necessary right now?" Steve snapped.

"Probably not at this exact moment," Loki replied, "but you'll want to think about it at some point; it'll give you a better idea of how they're going to come after you. He has to tell them something if he wants to continue operating without drawing suspicion. My guess, he's pinning it all on her." Loki gestured towards Felicity. "It'd be the easiest sell."

Steve glanced Felicity's way, an uncomfortable feeling of guilt tugging at him, because Loki was probably right. She was the least known factor in the situation, and therefore the easiest one to blame. Which meant that when SHIELD and Hydra came after them – and they _would_ , there was no doubt about that – that Hydra now had the perfect excuse to whisk Felicity away and attempt to find out things for their own purposes. And it was Steve more than Fury that had handed them that excuse. Felicity would have been willing to work with Fury's plan, that much had been clear.

_Staying there was still a bad idea, for all of us. She'll be okay. We'll keep her safe from Hydra._

"I'm here," Tony said. "Care to open the door for me?"

Steve knew how to do that much at least. Air whipped through the jet as Tony flew in, his current Iron Man suit gleaming and in good condition. As soon as Tony was inside, Steve hit the button to close the door. The suit slid apart, allowing Tony to step out of it. He immediately came up to the front of the plane, and Steve moved out of the pilot's seat for him.

"For the record," Tony said, reaching over and tapping a gauge, "this is the one that tells you how much fuel you have."

Steve studied it. "That doesn't look full."

"It's not. We're not going to crash, but we don't have a ton of flight time available. We need a destination; preferably somewhere close."

Felicity groaned, shifting in her seat and eyelids fluttering as she started to wake. Thor hovered over her, looking a mix of relieved and uncertain. Her face screwed up – the knockout gas had probably left her with a headache – then her eyes blinked open and she glanced around. "How do you fare, Lady Felicity?" Thor asked.

She looked up at him before glancing around. "I'll be fine. What's going on now?"

Steve moved her way. "We took a quinjet to get off the helicarrier. We could use a destination though; where are we supposed to go for the information about Bucky?"

She ran a hand over her face. "Some abandoned military base. Don't remember where it's at, but I'm pretty sure it's the base you trained at."

"Camp Lehigh," Steve said.

Felicity shrugged. "I guess. I don't know what it was called."

He turned towards Tony, trying to ignore the weight settling in his chest. "We're going to New Jersey."

* * *

Felicity rubbed her temple. Her head hurt, no doubt a side effect of whatever gas that had been used to knock her out. No one else seemed to be suffering from a headache, so she guessed the gas had only affected her. Probably shouldn't come as a surprise, since no one else in their group was normal, but it was kind of annoying. And apparently at some point while she was unconscious Iron Man had joined them, but Felicity didn't bother asking questions about that one. She found she didn't care enough to truly wonder how or why.

The others were discussing where they should land the quinjet, and how they'd get to Camp Lehigh without SHIELD or Hydra being able to follow them. "It doesn't matter," Felicity spoke up. They stopped mid conversation, and turned to look at her. Felicity shrugged. "We're going to talk to an evil supercomputer. It's probably going to tell Hydra where we are. You might want Director Fury to know too."

"I'm sorry, did you say evil supercomputer?" Iron Man asked. What was his actual name again? She hadn't heard anyone say it since she'd arrived in this world, but Felicity felt like she ought to know it. It was on the tip of her tongue, she just couldn't quite think of it.

"Yeah, evil supercomputer," she said. "What, those aren't common in this world?"

"Uh, no," Iron Man said. "Definitely not."

"Really?" Felicity was kind of surprised by that. She'd figured all manner of ridiculous things were just normal here. She frowned. "But in the movie, I think Steve knew it?"

"I've fought some strange things," Steve said, "but never an evil computer."

Felicity sighed. "Maybe I'm misremembering the movie then, I don't know."

Iron Man eyed her, then looked back up at Steve. "And you decided to go on the run from SHIELD on her say so?"

She bristled. "Hey, _I'm_ not the one who say we should run." Steve had decided that on his own, and hadn't been interested in second opinions. She'd said from the start that going to the base to get information about Bucky was only a maybe. It wasn't her fault if Steve had decided to take it as a given. And she _still_ couldn't think of Iron Man's name, and it was bugging her.

"What was your name again?"

Iron Man's attention snapped back to her, looking affronted. "You don't know?"

Felicity resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Can't think of it, haven't heard anyone say it. And also, not a fan of superhero movies. Never made an effort to remember anyone's name."

"You can remember there was a random, evil supercomputer, but not my name." Felicity didn't think she'd ever seen someone look so offended over asking their name before.

"Yeah, well, the Winter Soldier movie was my sister's favorite, so that's the one she played the most and you weren't in it," Felicity said.

"I wasn't – " he sputtered.

"His name is Tony," Bruce said.

Tony, of course. Now that she'd heard his name, she could remember Ellie saying it. Felicity glanced Bruce's way. He still made her uneasy, but he had actually answered her question. "Thanks."

Tony turned to face forward again, still looking mildly offended. Felicity couldn't bring herself to care.

"Anything else you can tell us about the…computer? Or what we'll find at Camp Lehigh?" Steve asked.

Felicity considered what she could remember. The first thing that came to mind was that the computer had had a German accent, but that didn't seem relevant. "Um, I think in the movie you used it to find out about Hydra's plan to murder people. Then – oh. The building it was in blew up."

Steve didn't look alarmed by her words, only thoughtful. "Do you remember what caused the explosion? Was it rigged with explosives, or did they call in an airstrike, or something else?"

Felicity frowned and shook her head. "Sorry, I don't remember."

"Seems like an important thing to pay attention to," Tony commented over his shoulder.

Irritation flickered through her. "Not when it's fictional." A day ago, that's all this place had been. Fiction. In her wildest dreams, she would never have imagined there was a reality where all the Marvel stuff was real, and she'd end up there. "Besides, there's explosions all the time in these movies; even your house got blown up that one time."

Tony spun around. " _What_?"

Felicity paused. "Oh. Um. Guess that hasn't happened yet."

"Who blows up my house?"

She shifted a little in her seat, almost feeling bad for mentioning it, because there was no other information that she could give him about it. "I don't know. I'm not even sure which movie it happens in. I just know that it happens."

Tony scowled, clearly unsatisfied with her response. This time, Felicity couldn't blame him. If she found out someone was going to blow up her home, she'd want details too.

"Let's try to stay focused on our more immediate problems," Bruce said. "Sounds like Camp Lehigh is a trap."

"I wouldn't call it a trap," Thor said. "Perhaps it was in the…movie, but that doesn't mean it is now. Hydra has done nothing to try and lure us there; they do not realize that we even know of the computer's existence, nor do they have any idea of our current plans. We should expect the computer to alert Hydra once we arrive, but there's no reason to think they are ready for us now."

"And as long as Hydra hasn't preset the place to self-destruct, we'll have time before they can actually do anything," Steve said. "Tony, I'll need your help with the computer."

"Figured you might," Tony said. He still looked a little grumpy.

Steve continued. "Thor, Bruce, you two will stay in the quinjet with Loki." Felicity couldn't quite stop the scowl that crossed her face at his name. She'd been doing her level best to pretend that Loki wasn't sitting across from her. "Felicity, you'll be with me and Tony."

It took a moment before Steve's words processed. "What? No!" Steve paused, actually looking surprised at her outburst. The look of genuine surprise on his face only served to irritate Felicity further. "There's still a chance that the building could blow up, and I'm not a super whatever. I'm not going in there."

"We'll make sure you're fine," Steve said. "It might not blow up at all, and if it does, we should have plenty of time to get you out of there first."

Felicity sputtered. With jerky movements, she undid the straps holding her in the seat so she could stalk over to Steve. "You can't promise that!" She emphasized each word with a pointed jab at his chest. "And there's no _reason_ for me to go in the building anyway!"

"There is." Steve's voice was infuriatingly calm. "People asking the right question or making the right comment makes you remember things. If you're there in person, it might make you think of something we should know that you wouldn't have otherwise."

She opened her mouth to argue, then paused. _…He's right._ She hadn't even really noticed the way people asking for specifics sometimes triggered memories of things, but now that she thought about it, that did happen. There really was potential that being there could make her think of something else.

Felicity scowled up at him. "Still not a good enough reason for me. I think I've given you plenty of information, and I'm not about to put my life at risk on the off chance I'll remember something else that may or may not be useful."

His brows drew together and his mouth tipped down into a frown. "Then here's another reason for you." This time, there was a hard edge to his voice. "It's in _your_ best interests for us to keep ahead of Hydra; what do you think will happen, if they get a hold of you?"

She stiffened, and hoped he attributed the flush she could feel crawling across her face to anger. It stung far more than Steve could possibly realize for him to have turned around and given her a self-serving reason to help them. _I never asked to come here!_

Felicity had never had any interest in knowing about the Marvel universe, wouldn't have wanted to come to this place if she'd known it was real. She'd given them what warnings she could, because lives had been on the line; was it really too much to ask to just be left alone now? She'd lost everything already, her family, her world. What gave Steve the right to ask her to risk more? Because maybe her life didn't matter in this world, maybe no one would care or mourn her if she died, but now that she was looking at an actual, concrete chance of death, Felicity realized that she still desperately wanted to live. _If he'd just listened to Director Fury, we wouldn't be in this mess!_ Director Fury had wanted to keep things quiet. Hydra probably still would have been suspicious of her, but they wouldn't have been _sure_.

Her hands curled into fists. "Yeah, well who's fault is it that Hydra knows to come after me now, _hero_?" She laced the word with as much sarcasm and venom as she could muster.

Steve's face went blank, and Felicity knew her words had hit her intended mark. It didn't make her feel any better. Just hollow. And small.

She didn't wait for him to say anything in response, turning to move away. She desperately wished they weren't in the quinjet right now; there wasn't anywhere for her to go really, and she'd rather be _anywhere_ than _here_ –

Blue sparkled in front of her eyes, and then there was nothing under her feet. Felicity let out a choked cry that was immediately snatched away by the wind as she free fell through the sky.


	6. Chapter 6

Felicity spun through the air, greens and browns on the ground blurring with the blue of the sky. She'd have screamed, if she'd been able to catch her breath well enough to do so. She spun again, catching a glimpse of a red streak in the sky barreling towards her before she flipped around to face the ground. A hand grabbed her ankle and yanked her back. Felicity slammed into a solid figure and clung to him for dear life.

It was Thor who had her, a part of her brain registered as one of his arms curled securely around her. The moment he had hold of her, he changed the direction of their flight. The abrupt motion made Felicity's stomach lurch, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back the nausea.

Seconds later the wind died, and Felicity opened her eyes to see they were back inside the quinjet, the ramp closing behind them. Thor had settled back down on the floor, but he was tall enough that Felicity's feet still dangled in the air while she held on to him. She forced her stiff fingers to let go and Thor set her down, a hand at her waist to steady her.

"Are you alright?" Thor asked, concern creasing his face.

She was still reeling from the abrupt shock of _dear lord, she'd almost died just now_ , but Felicity nodded her head. "I think so."

"Okay, _how_ did you just do that?" Tony asked from the pilot's seat. "And _why_?"

Felicity blinked, looked around to see they were all watching her, their expressions ranging from alarmed to confused (or just interested, if one paid attention to Loki, which Felicity still emphatically chose not to do). "That – that wasn't me!" she protested. "I don't have powers!"

The words felt utterly ridiculous coming from her mouth; no one from her world had superpowers, it wasn't a thing, the fact that she even had to explain that was just – just-

 _They don't believe me._ She could tell by the looks on their faces.

"Well none of us can teleport people," Tony pointed out. "Unless Loki has a magic trick we don't know about." He shot a glare at the alien in question.

Loki rolled his eyes. "I have _plenty_ of tricks you don't know about, but teleportation isn't one of them."

Felicity shook her head, slashing her hand through the air in a negative motion. "I don't have powers! And if I did, I certainly wouldn't use them to just toss myself out of a freaking jet!"

Sure, right before the teleportation had happened, she'd wished to be anywhere else but there, but she hadn't meant it in the literal sense of _"I'd rather be free falling to my death than sitting here in the awkward aftermath of my confrontation with Steve."_ If she had powers – which she _didn't_ – that was _not_ what she'd do with them.

Steve studied her with narrowed eyes, and Felicity didn't like the look on his face. It reminded her of the look worn by one of her more difficult professors when he was presented with a question that he knew would have a complicated answer. "The blue lights when you teleported," he said, "looked an awful lot like the lightshow that happened when you showed up on the plane seventy years ago. Is it possible that this is some kind of side effect from the Tesseract?"

_No way. That's impossible._

"It seems likely," Thor said. He crossed his arms over his chest, eyes going thoughtful. "Most beings cannot survive interacting directly with the full power of an Infinity Stone." He looked down at Felicity. "It is possible that in order to bring you here alive, it had to change you."

That – that couldn't be right. There was no way it could have –

Except. Except she clearly recalled the moment when she realized that the force bringing her over was tearing her apart, shattering her down into nothing more than specks of blue light and then putting her back together again. And she remembered the dream. The weird dream she shrugged off, because after what had happened, was it really all that strange that she'd dream about floating in a blue void? She remembered the words, the ones that had crawled past her ears and planted themselves directly into her brain.

" _ **You have been remade."**_

The Tesseract had ripped her apart and put her together, over and over. How could she be sure it had put her back the same?

Her head swam and her legs turned to noodles beneath her, but she didn't quite realize she was falling until Thor caught hold of her, turning her so she fell back into a seat instead of on the ground. He was saying something, but Felicity's brain couldn't process the words over the roaring in her ears. Her heart was trying to jump out of her chest and she couldn't _breathe,_ why couldn't she breathe?

She felt someone's hand on the back of her neck and they pushed her down so her head was between her knees. They spoke in a low, steady voice, but Felicity still couldn't understand the words. She squeezed her eyes shut. _Panic attack,_ the analytical part of her brain finally told her. _You're having a panic attack._

Felicity had never had a panic attack before, but they'd been briefly touched on in her classes. _For panic attacks I'm supposed to – to breathe. Just breathe, Felicity._

"That's it," the voice said, words finally sinking in. It was steady and calm and soothing, and Felicity focused on it while she breathed. "Deep breaths; in through your nose, out through your mouth." A hand rested lightly between her shoulder blades, the touch comforting.

As she got control of her breathing, her heart slowed and the dizziness passed. She blinked her eyes open and found herself staring at the jean clad legs of whoever was crouched in front of her. Felicity raised her head and found it was Bruce, his gaze concerned and analytical all at once. "Better?" he asked.

Heat flushed up the back of her neck and ears, embarrassment flooding her as she registered that she'd just broken down in front of them all. Felicity had always been the one taking care of others, ever since she was a kid. She wasn't supposed to be the one that needed help. She swallowed the sour taste in her mouth. "Yeah. I'm okay."

Bruce removed his hand from her back and Felicity sat up. She noticed Steve take a step towards them, his mouth opening, but Bruce shot him a look sharp enough that his jaw snapped closed with a grimace, leaving whatever he'd been about to say unvoiced. Instead he turned and took the copilot's seat that Bruce had vacated. Tony was already studiously looking out the window. Thor hovered a moment, but when Bruce made a shooing motion with his hand, he moved to take a seat by Loki, though he shot worried glances Felicity's way. Bruce sat in the seat beside Felicity, placing himself between her and the others.

A lump built in her throat as the silence stretched out. It wasn't real privacy. That was impossible on the quinjet. But they were giving her the closest thing she could get to it.

She closed her eyes, fighting down the urge to cry. She was not going to embarrass herself further. Not today at least.

Once she felt she had herself under control again, Felicity opened her eyes and sighed. "This is insane," she mumbled.

"Completely," Bruce agreed.

Felicity started slightly, looking over at him in surprise. She hadn't really expected a response, and certainly not that one. Bruce met her stare and raised an eyebrow. "What, you think we deal with alien invasions, alternate realities, and secret organizations with plans of world domination every day?"

"Kind of…" Felicity admitted. It all seemed like standard fare for superhero movies to her.

Bruce snorted, his mouth turning up in a wry smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes. "I promise, we don't. This is out there, even for us." He shook his head. "You want to know what I was doing a few days ago?"

Felicity wasn't sure where this was going, but he'd sparked her curiosity. "Sure."

"I was living in Kolkata. I was working as a doctor. Hadn't changed into the other guy in over a year." He leaned his head back. "Thought I'd gotten myself well hidden, and that no one knew where I was."

Felicity's mouth parted. He hadn't been the Hulk in over a _year_? A stark reminder that she didn't know anything really about the timeline of the Marvel movies. Could be years between each one, and for all she knew, during that time they could be living relatively normal lives.

That wasn't the only thing about Bruce's story that caught her notice though. "You're a doctor?" Felicity had been two weeks away from taking her exam for her nursing license, and she was kind of surprised to find a sort of common ground with any of the Avengers.

"More or less," Bruce said waving a hand. "I've got seven doctorates, and an M.D. is one of them. Never really practiced in the States though. But the people I worked with in Kolkata didn't have access to _any_ doctors, so I was better than nothing."

Felicity stared. Surely, he was joking. But no, he looked perfectly sincere. "Seven?" she repeated. " _Why_ would you do something like that?" Even if someone could go through the process of getting seven doctorates, Felicity couldn't think of any reason why someone would need to. It was just so _excessive_.

Another wry smile; Felicity was starting to think most of his smiles looked like that. "If it makes it any better, I didn't set out to get seven. It just sort of happened."

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him. "No," she said firmly. "That does not make it better. That might make it worse."

Bruce actually laughed at that. Then he launched into the story of his frankly ridiculous academic career that had led to seven doctorates. He'd only gotten through his third one when Tony's voice interrupted.

"We're here," he said.

 _Already?_ Felicity had gotten wrapped up enough in Bruce's story that she hadn't noticed the time passing. Then she realized she'd also been wrapped up enough in his story that she hadn't had time to dwell on or stress about the possibility of the Tesseract changing her, or that she might have some sort of weird powers now, or the confrontation with Steve, or anything else.

 _Wait, was that the point? Was he distracting me?_ If that had been his intention, it had worked, and Felicity was grateful.

As soon as the quinjet settled on the ground, Steve was out of his seat, snatching up his shield. "Tony and I will find the computer. The rest of you stay here, unless someone shows up to attack you. Hopefully we'll be in and out before anyone can catch up to us."

Felicity blinked. _He's…not trying to make me go?_ He'd seemed so set on his plan before, and now he wasn't even mentioning it. Maybe he'd decided after her panic attack that she was too much of a liability or something. She didn't know, or care, what his reasoning was. She was just glad he wasn't trying to drag her along this time.

"Though if you see any explosions," Tony said, moving to the suit, "feel free to come make sure we're okay." The suit slid open at his approach, and Tony settled inside with practiced ease. The panels closed, encasing him inside.

Steve hit the button to lower the exit ramp, and the two of them were off. Quiet filled the quinjet. Felicity reached up and toyed with the end of her ponytail. She didn't want quiet right now. Quiet gave her too much time to think, and she just couldn't process the newest twists that had been thrown at her. She just couldn't. She looked over at Bruce.

"So, how'd the fourth one happen?"

Bruce hmm'd. "Surprisingly easy, actually."

* * *

Steve studied the worn buildings that stretched away from the gate he and Tony had passed through. Camp Lehigh. It was obvious that the place hadn't been used in years, grass overgrown, paint nearly worn from buildings, and a general sense of emptiness plaguing the area.

But it wasn't just the fact that it was clearly abandoned that bothered Steve; it was the fact that it had also _changed_ from the time when he'd been there for basic training. Buildings had been added. Buildings had been knocked down, or remodeled. Camp Lehigh had thrived and grown and died, all while he'd been in the ice.

It was a painful, sharp reminder of the time that had passed him by, of everything that he'd missed.

"JARVIS isn't picking anything up," Tony said, his tinny voice breaking through Steve's reverie. "If there's a supercomputer around, it isn't turned on. Any guesses where it might be?"

Steve shook his thoughts away. This wasn't the time for nostalgia. He was on a mission, and he needed to be focused. He scanned the area, this time more strategically. It was hard to guess; in basic the areas he'd been allowed to go to had been extremely limited, so he wasn't as familiar with the area as one might expect. Between that and the way Camp Lehigh had changed, there was a decent chance they might be forced to search building to building, but that would take far too long.

Then he caught sight of a building that he knew didn't belong, no matter how many years he'd been gone. "There," he said, moving towards it.

"Okay," Tony said, following along. "What makes you so sure it's that particular building?"

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within five hundred yards of barracks," Steve said. Maybe he'd been frozen seventy years, but even that wasn't enough time for regs like that to have changed. "This building doesn't belong here."

"Good enough for me," Tony said as they reached the door. Predictably it was chained shut, but a swift blow from Steve's shield handled that issue. "Hey, Cap."

Steve paused, looking back at Tony. The faceplate of his suit slid up, allowing Steve to see his frown. "This isn't the best moment, but there probably isn't going to be a good one, so. Maybe ease up on the new kid? She's not a soldier, and she didn't exactly volunteer for this."

He winced, gaze sliding away. Steve had messed up with Felicity, and badly. He'd heard about Hydra and Bucky, and he hadn't been able to focus on anything else. Not even his understanding of how much she must be hurting over losing her world, and his initial plans of trying to help her adjust. No, he hadn't stopped to consider her feelings at all, only the way she might be useful in completing the mission.

That's why it had hit so hard, when she'd called him out for it. Because she was right; everything he'd done in pursuit of _his_ goals had increased the risk _she_ faced. And he could say he'd keep her safe, but she was also right in that he couldn't guarantee it. He could try his best, but he knew what it was like when those life and death fights started. There was _never_ a guarantee.

He'd pushed too much, and it wasn't hard to connect the dots between his confrontation with Felicity and her sudden accidental use of the power she didn't know she had to try and get away from them. And if they hadn't been able to save her, if she'd actually fallen to her death, that would have been on him. That was an outcome Steve wouldn't stand for.

Like Tony had said. She wasn't a soldier. She hadn't volunteered.

Felicity wasn't the one still at war.

"You're right," Steve agreed. "I'll be more careful." He'd apologize too, when he got the chance.

Tony's faceplate slid back down. "Right then. Let's keep going."

Steve pushed the door open, and was immediately greeted by metal stairs. They went down the stairs, the light from outside making it just bright enough to help him spot the light switch on the wall. He flipped the switch, and was mildly surprised when the overhead lights actually flickered on. Steve studied the room. It was like someone had taken a bunker and tried to make an office space. Desks were still neatly lined up, though coated with enough dust to show they hadn't been used in a long time. On the far wall, a now familiar logo was painted; the eagle, its wings spread wide.

"This was SHIELD?" Tony said, surprise coming through in his voice.

"Where it got its start, maybe," Steve said. It made sense; this post had actually been a major area for the SSR, and the SSR had transitioned into SHIELD sometime after the war.

They moved through the room, scanning for any sign of the computer that Felicity had told them about. While there were some random items that had been left behind whenever this place had been abandoned, there was none of it was electronics, and there definitely wasn't anything like a supercomputer.

"Why are these here?"

Steve turned at the sound of Tony's voice, and moved to see what he was looking at. There were three pictures hanging on the wall; Colonel Phillips, Howard, and Peggy. He wasn't sure why Tony was so surprised at their presence. "They were the ones who spearheaded the transition of the SSR into SHIELD. I'd be more surprised if there were photos of them somewhere."

Tony's head snapped towards him. "They did _what_?"

It was Steve's turn to be surprised. "You…didn't know that?"

"I didn't even know that SHIELD existed until after I became Iron Man," Tony said, "much less that Dad or Aunt Peggy helped found them."

"…Aunt Peggy?" Steve repeated, because he couldn't help it.

Tony waved a hand. "Her and Uncle Daniel were my godparents. That's not important."

The reference to Peggy's husband sparked a sharp ache in Steve's chest. He'd already known about the man; Director Fury had given him files on Peggy and all the Commandos so Steve could find out what had happened to his friends after he'd been frozen. Steve didn't resent the man, and he certainly didn't resent Peggy moving on and living her life. Her happiness was all he could ever ask for. But such a casually spoken reminder of the life he'd _almost_ had…it ached.

"How did they get mixed up with the SSR and SHIELD?" Tony demanded, gesturing towards the photos.

Steve shook his head, refocused on Tony. "They both worked for the SSR during the war. Howard designed some of the equipment used in Project Rebirth. Once that was done, he worked with us Howling Commandos. Made a lot of our stuff." He hesitated. "You didn't know any of that?"

"No." Steve couldn't see Tony's face thanks to the mask, but his voice sounded stiff. "As far as I knew, Dad's war efforts all revolved around the Manhattan Project."

Steve winced. "That was his cover story to keep Project Rebirth a secret. Far as I know, he never even consulted on that."

Tony didn't say anything, and Steve wished he could see his expression, get a feel for what the other man was thinking. Steve had no idea why Howard – or Peggy for that matter, since it sounded like she'd been a decent part of Tony's childhood – would have kept all of this a secret from Tony.

Before Steve could think of something to say, Tony turned away. "We should keep looking. If the computer isn't here, we'll have to figure something else out."

They moved on from the pictures, drifting by mostly empty built in bookcases. Steve let his eyes wander over the bookcases, then paused. There was a spot where the bookcases didn't quite line up like they should, for built ins. Could be shoddy workmanship, but maybe…

Steve was able to fit his fingers into the crack and he pulled. Metal groaned and clicked as the whole row of bookcases slid to the right, revealing elevator doors.

"Hidden elevators in a hidden office," Tony observed. "Nice to know SHIELD was always like that."

There was a keypad by the elevator doors, requiring a pass code to get them open. "Scan it for me, JARVIS," Tony said. The eyes of his suit lit up for a second, then faded again. "Bingo." Tony punched in the code, and the doors creaked open.

There was only one button inside the elevator, so Steve pressed it. The ride down was surprisingly smooth, considering how old the thing had to be. The doors opened again, and the lights hanging overhead flickered on automatically when they stepped out.

The room was just as large as the one they'd come from, but most decidedly not an office. In the center of the room was a raised dais, several monitors stationed on it. Machinery as tall as Steve encircled the room, thick cables leading from them to the monitors. None of it made any sense to Steve; he was getting a handle on the smartphone and tablet that SHIELD had given him, but this stuff in no way resembled that.

"JARVIS, scan for explosives," Tony said. Steve froze before taking another step. He'd been so surprised about the room, he'd almost forgotten Felicity's warning that the building might blow up. A moment later the suit slid open and Tony stepped out. "Alright, this place is not rigged to blow, so that's good news."

He marched towards the computer in the middle of the room, and Steve trailed after him. "So, this is Felicity's evil super computer?" Tony eyed the equipment and let out a snort of derision. "This thing is _ancient_."

Steve couldn't quite stop the twist of his mouth at Tony's comment. Ancient. It was younger than Steve was.

Tony paused as something caught his attention. "That however is not."

Steve drew closer to see what had caught his eye. It was a sleek black box with a blinking blue light that someone had connected to the computer. "Looks like someone comes here after all."

"In that case, I'd better get started," Tony said.

He examined the console in front of the monitors. It was nearly as large as a desk and had way too many buttons to make any kind of sense to Steve, but Tony must have understood it because he pressed one, and everything lit up, and the machines around the room began to whir and click.

A camera over the main monitor seemed to move of its own volition, turning to encompass both Tony and Steve.

"Initiate system?" a robotic voice asked. The words spelled out on the main monitor as they were said.

"Now that's a feature I didn't expect from something this old," Tony mused. He typed in 'yes' to the keyboard. Steve hovered just behind him, waiting to see what would happen.

The words vanished from the screen. Green lines flickered over it instead, almost but not quite forming a picture.

"Rogers, Steven, born 1918." Steve stiffened at the voice coming from the speakers. It was different than the one the computer had used a moment ago. It was _familiar_. "Stark, Anthony, born 1970."

"Okay," Tony said. "Definitely a feature I didn't expect."

"Your presence is also unexpected," the computer replied. "You should not be aware of my existence."

"That doesn't sound like just a recording," Steve said. A recording might explain why the voice was familiar, but this was like the computer was trying to carry on a conversation.

"I am not a recording, Captain," the computer replied. "Though I am no longer quite the man I was when you captured me in 1945."

A picture popped up one of the others screens, on that Steve recognized instantly, the familiarity of the voice suddenly making sense. Felicity had been right; he _did_ know the evil super computer. "Zola."

"Uh, who?" Tony asked.

"Arnim Zola," Steve said. "A German scientist that worked for the Red Skull. He designed the weapons they made from the Tesseract."

"They left him out of the history books then," Tony said.

"Correction," Zola said, "I am Swiss. And – what are you doing?"

The question was directed at Tony, who'd fished something out of his pocket. "Go on, keep talking," Tony said. He plugged the item into the black box. "This is just going to let JARVIS access your systems."

"You – you cannot do that!" Zola protested. "You cannot hack into the human mind!"

"True," Tony said, "but you aren't really a human anymore. You're a program. And I promise you're not good enough to keep JARVIS out." The screen flickered and Tony smirked. The lines that formed a shadowy approximation of Zola's face vanished, replaced by lines of numbers and code that zipped across the screen. They meant nothing to Steve, but Tony was studying them with interest.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, because he honestly couldn't tell.

"JARVIS is getting access to everything Zola knows," Tony said. "Once we've got that, he can search through the information for any mention of your friend. If Zola knows where he's being kept, JARVIS will find him. It'll take some time though. This is a lot of information. Aside from that, JARVIS has also cut off Zola's ability to communicate with anyone. As long as Zola didn't send off a message before JARVIS got into his system, Hydra might not know we found him."

Steve nodded. "At least until they discover that we've destroyed him." Because that was absolutely the next step.

"Well, yes," Tony said. "But we might have a small head start."

It took a few minutes, but soon enough JARVIS was done, and Tony had him wipe clean everything from Zola's servers. Then he plucked the whatever-it-was out of the black box and pocketed it again. "And we're set. Let's go."

They left the building behind, making their way back to the quinjet. Steve glanced around one last time, memories tugging at him, waiting to be examined. He squashed the urge, focused on the quinjet. This wasn't the time for remembering. He still had a mission.


	7. Chapter 7

"Half of your Avengers team has gone rogue. They have taken the Tesseract, the alien criminal Loki, and stolen a quinjet to flee from you. Can you explain how this has happened?"

Nick studied the holographic images of the World Security Council, and he wondered which of them were actually Hydra. At least some of them had to be. _Generic, evil, middle-aged, white guy in a suit_ was the description that Felicity had given for the person who would one day order the hit on Nick. Three of the Council's six members could potentially fit that description.

"It was the woman Loki brought over, Felicity Greene," Nick said. He chose his words with care, knowing that he was probably speaking to enemies. "She claimed that SHIELD is the real enemy; that we were infiltrated by Hydra from the very beginning."

"That's preposterous," Councilwoman Hawley said. Nick wondered if her indignation was real, or if she was pretending to deflect suspicion. "How could she have possibly convinced them that was true?"

Nick shrugged. "Hydra was the perfect namedrop. In Captain Rogers's mind, he was at war with Hydra only two weeks ago. It wasn't hard for him to believe they were still around. Thor feels indebted to Greene because Loki brought her here, and Dr. Banner doesn't trust any government organization."

"Clearly she is a clever manipulator," Councilman Yen said, "but what could her goal possibly be?"

Nick shook his head. "For now, that remains unclear."

"Where did they go?" Councilman Malick asked.

"We're tracking the quinjet they took," Nick said. A quinjet he hoped that they were smart enough to ditch soon, because Nick didn't have a choice but to report its whereabouts accurately. That was a lie that would be too easily caught, if he told it. "They went to Camp Lehigh."

"Isn't that where Captain Rogers trained?" Alexander asked.

Nick met his gaze through the screen and nodded. "It is. The base has been closed for over twenty years now though. It's still unclear what they were there for. I have a team on the ground now trying to figure it out."

"Yes, Agents Romanoff and Barton," Councilman Singh said. "That decision seems unwise, given the current circumstances."

"With all due respect, given out current circumstances, Romanoff and Barton are our best hope," Nick countered. "They've been with SHIELD long enough not to fall for Greene's story, and they're the only ones that stand a chance of talking down Captain Rogers and the others."

"Is that the plan?" Councilman Rockwell asked. "Trying to talk them down?"

"Given they just saved our planet, yes, my first plan is to try and talk to them," Nick said. "Did the Council have another plan in mind?"

"No one is suggesting that you go in guns blazing," Councilwoman Hawley said, effectively cutting off Councilman Rockwell's reply. "We do however think that it is prudent to consider backup plans, if they will not be talked down. Have you contacted Stark?"

Nick shrugged. "We tried. He's not answering. Wouldn't surprise me if he's decided he's earned a vacation after the past twenty-four hours." It was also possible that the others had contacted him first. It seemed a likely explanation for how they'd managed not to crash the quinjet that none of them knew how to fly. Unless Ms. Greene had a pilot's license she hadn't mentioned, which was also possible.

"What about Loki's scepter?" Councilman Malick asked.

Nick slowly shifted to look at his screen. "We still have it, Councilman. But if you're about to suggest that we use on them, I would strongly recommend against it."

"It could be our best option for bringing them in without violence," Councilman Malick said.

"We have no idea how it works," Nick pointed out. "Nor do we know if it will have any affect on Asgardians, or for that matter, how it might affect the Hulk. If we try to control them against their will and fail, I promise you, what happened in Harlem last year will look like a spring picnic compared to what'll come next."

"But we need some sort of backup plan," Councilman Rockwell said, "in case your talking plan fails. Unless you think you have agents that can subdue them, then the scepter is our best option." Murmurs of agreement followed this assessment.

Nick didn't move. There was no way that the entire Council was Hydra. Some of them were SHIELD. And all of them were agreeing that the best way to deal with Thor, Dr. Banner, and Steve – men who had just risked their lives to save all of them – was to forcibly control them. And they were also the ones that had decided the best chance for defeating the Chitauri invasion was to send a nuke at a city with millions of their own civilians in it.

_Guess I got more than one bad eye._

He should have seen it sooner, that something was wrong, even if he hadn't realized that Hydra was in their ranks. SHIELD had been designed to protect people. Sometimes that meant making hard choices. Nick had made his own share of questionable decisions to be sure. But what did it say about the choices that SHIELD had been making that this discussion was not enough to tell Nick which of them might be Hydra and which weren't?

"Very well," Nick said. "If that is the Council's decision." He'd send the scepter to Clint and Natasha, and inform them of what the Council had decided. Nick knew good and well that the two of them would never use it. But it would get the scepter further from Hydra hands, so perhaps this could be seen as an opportunity at least.

"Before we bring this to a close," Alexander said, "I feel it would be imprudent not to at least consider the idea that Ms. Greene may have been telling the truth. Is there any possibility that Hydra agents could have infiltrated us?"

The other Councilmembers protested, but Nick barely heard them. _Why did it have to be you?_ Nick considered Alexander a friend. Nick had personally invited him to join the World Security Council. The man had once turned down a Nobel Peace Prize.

But Alexander was too smart to ask this question. If he genuinely thought there was a chance that Ms. Greene was right, he'd never have brought it up in front of the rest of the Council, not when doing so would be sure to alert whichever of them was Hydra. The only reason for him to ask this was if _he_ was Hydra, and he was trying to deflect suspicions away from himself.

Nick couldn't prove it yet, and he hoped he was wrong. But Alexander had just jumped to the top of Nick's suspect list. Until he could prove things one way or another, though, Nick had a part to play. He allowed a touch of offense to enter into his voice. "It's impossible. SHIELD has always had measures in place to catch traitors in our midst. I've increased those measures since I took over as director. If there were Hydra agents around, I'd know."

"As you say," Alexander replied. "I merely wished to be sure we were looking at this from all angles."

The meeting came to an end, and Nick went to find Maria. He'd have her get the STRIKE team together to deliver the scepter to Natasha and Clint. And then he and Maria needed to have a talk.

* * *

Why Steve and the others had decided to come to Camp Lehigh was a puzzle that Clint hadn't been able to figure out yet. Even if it was the place where Steve had trained back in his army days, it had been abandoned for over twenty years now. There was nothing left that could be useful.

"Well I'm stumped," Clint said, leaning against a cinderblock wall of a derelict building. "You got any ideas what they were doing here?"

Nat barely glanced his way. "Nope. Can't tell where they went while they were here. Think you can get a higher vantage point?"

The building across the way looked like it'd be simple enough to scale. "Sure thing." It was the work of moments to get to the flat roof. Clint took his time circling the perimeter, looking for anything that seemed even mildly out of place. A glint of light on metal in the grass caught his eye and he paused. It was too bright to have been there for long.

He climbed back down the building. "Think I found something." He led the way to the building he'd spotted, and found a chain and padlock on the ground in front of the door. He tried the handle, and the door opened easily, revealing a staircase that lead down. He glanced at Nat and she nodded.

Nat took the lead down the stairs, Clint following behind. When they made it to the bottom, she flipped a light on, and they both stared. "Huh," Clint said. "You know, maybe we should think about not putting our logo everywhere." He gestured towards the back wall, where the familiar eagle symbol had been painted.

"Not the point right now," Nat said. "They must have come for something here. Let's see if we can figure it out."

They split up, casing the area. It didn't take long for Nat to discover the hidden elevator, which they took down to an even lower level. It opened into a large, long room that housed an ancient computer and its equipment.

"What do you think we'll find on it?" Clint asked as they walked up to the computer. "Files on Hydra, or files on the Winter Soldier? My money is on the Winter Soldier." It had been obvious in the meeting that finding out Bucky Barnes was the Winter Soldier was the part Steve had cared about most. Not that he didn't care about the whole SHIELD/Hydra mess, he did, but it was his friend that got his strongest reaction.

"Probably both," Nat said, hitting a button to turn the computer on. Only a few moments later, it turned out they were both wrong. Someone had completely wiped the system. No matter what tricks they tried, neither of them could manage to find anything. The computer was a blank slate.

"Well there's another point in favor of Tony probably being with them," Clint said.

"Probably." Nat frowned.

"You good?" Clint asked. He kept his tone neutral. He already knew the real answer; she didn't feel any better than he did. Finding out that the organization he'd dedicated himself to, the organization he'd killed for, was actually infected by their enemy, had left Clint feeling shaken. It made him wonder which of his targets had truly been assigned by SHIELD, and which were ones that Hydra had deemed threats. How many good people were dead at his hand?

Clint ignored the questions. He pushed them down, and all the uncertainties and grief that came with them. One day he'd take them out and turn them over and try to make peace with it all. But not today. Today, he had to focus on the mission.

Nat's expression smoothed over. "I can keep going."

They left the building, heading back to their quinjet. Before they made it all the way there, they saw another quinjet fly in. _That feels like a bad sign._

Rumlow and his STRIKE team was waiting for them. Clint scowled when he saw what was in Rumlow's hand. "The hell did you bring that thing for?"

He grinned and shrugged, waving Loki's scepter. "It's a special delivery. The Security Council wants you to have it, in case talking doesn't go well."

The implication wasn't hard to follow. "Director Fury okay'd that plan?" Clint asked. The very idea of trying to use the scepter to control the others made Clint's skin crawl. What was the Council thinking?

"He hasn't got much room to argue, after half of his special team went rogue," Rumlow said.

And because he was trying not to raise Hydra's suspicions. Despite any of that, Clint didn't want to go anywhere near the thing. Nat strode forward instead, looking as unruffled as ever, and took it from him.

"Any idea what they were doing here?" Rumlow asked, glancing beyond them into the base.

Nat shrugged one shoulder. "We found an old SHIELD outpost. That might have had something to do with it. We couldn't find anything of interest there, so your guess is as good as ours for what they might have been after."

Rumlow shook his head. "This is one hell of a mess. I don't envy your assignment."

Clint eyed the scepter in Nat's hand. Rumlow was more right than he knew.

* * *

Their next destination after Camp Lehigh had been an airport, because apparently Tony was the kind of rich that owned his own private plane. It was mentioned when they arrived that if anyone wanted to go their own way at that point, they could. Except of course Felicity had to stick with Steve for now, because going anywhere on her own was basically impossible, especially with no money, no ID, and Hydra after her. And Thor was sticking with Felicity, and Loki had no choice but to go where Thor took him. Tony had to come too, because it was his plane, and his computer program that was going to figure out Bucky's location. So really the only person that _could_ walk away at this point was Bruce, and for whatever reason, he was choosing not to.

They all piled into Tony's plane, which turned out to be infinitely more comfortable than the quinjet had been. The seats were bigger, and cushioned, and it came fully stocked with snacks, which was great news, because Felicity was starving. She claimed a bottle of water, a bag of roasted almonds, and a bag of chocolate covered pretzels before retreating to an out of the way seat by herself.

Felicity was finally ready to face the possibility of having some kind of weird powers. The very idea had been a complete shock, almost more so than coming to another world. But she wouldn't be doing herself any favors to pretend that it wasn't fact. Ignoring her new powers might even put her in danger, as her unplanned jaunt out the quinjet had proved.

_So…I can…teleport now?_

Even thinking it felt like the punchline of a bad joke. Felicity Greene, the woman who hated superhero movies, was now living in one, and had developed superpowers to top it off. At least teleportation had a sort of logic to it though. The Tesseract had transported her from one world to another, then bounced her around in the Marvel universe too. Teleportation as a result made as much sense as anything else that had happened. It could be useful too, if she learned how to control it, especially while Hydra was after her.

Felicity shoved a handful of pretzels in her mouth. _I cannot believe I'm actually thinking about this._

"Good news!" Tony said. "JARVIS got a location for us."

"Where?" Steve asked immediately, and Felicity had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. He acted like Tony hadn't been about to tell them anyway.

"Middle of No Where, Russia," Tony said. "I've got coordinates. From what JARVIS has found so far, it looks like Hydra has been keeping him at this place whenever he's not on a mission."

Steve nodded, his face grim, and Felicity felt pinpricks of guilt for her dismissive attitude a few moments ago. She kept forgetting that Bucky was Steve's best friend. Felicity wasn't the only one having a really bad day.

"So, get comfortable, everyone," Tony said. "We've got a long flight ahead of us."

The others settled in, and a few minutes later the jet was taxing down the runway, and then they were off. Felicity looked out her window, watching as the ground slipped away, and felt a flicker of unease. _I'll have to be careful what I think while we're up here._ She wasn't sure what exactly had triggered her powers before; her best guess was that her strong desire to be away from Steve had done the trick. But she wasn't eager for a repeat of tossing herself out of the jet.

Noise distracted her, and Felicity looked away from the window to see Steve settling in the seat across from her. Felicity eyed him, but didn't say anything. Steve didn't either for a moment, just studied her and then sighed, clasping his hands together. "Look," he said, "I wanted to apologize for earlier. You were right. I have put you in more danger, and this…isn't your fight. Not really. I shouldn't have pushed you into it."

Felicity tried for a moment to hold on to her resentment towards him, because that was easier. She didn't want to get involved in the messes that always followed superheroes. Or at least, no more involved than she already was. But his expression was sincere and direct, and – and –

He wasn't just a character. Steve wasn't the poster on Ellie's wall, he wasn't some one-dimensional fantasy in a summer blockbuster, he was a _person_. They all were. Including the friend that Steve was desperate to rescue. They were _real_ , and maybe her situation couldn't be fixed, but theirs still could. Could she blame him for trying?

Felicity's resentment evaporated and she echoed his sigh. "Yeah, well. I get why you did."

He shook his head. "Why doesn't matter. I shouldn't have done it."

If Ellie or one of Felicity's friends had said something like that, Felicity would probably have tossed a pretzel at them. She didn't know Steve well enough to know how he'd react to that though, so she refrained. Instead, she said, "Okay, then let's say we just wipe the slate clean and start over."

Steve nodded, but his expression was still serious. "I appreciate the offer."

"Great," Felicity said. She flashed a wide smile and held out a hand. "Hi, I'm Felicity."

Steve stared at her, his eyebrows slowly climbing. "I'm sorry?"

"We're starting over," she reminded him. Felicity wiggled her fingers. "Come on, don't make it weird."

"You've already crossed that line," Tony called from his seat nearer the front of the plane.

Felicity responded without looking away from Steve. "This conversation does not include you!"

Steve's expression softened, a smile creeping up on him. He took Felicity's hand and shook it. "Steve. Nice to meet you, Felicity."


	8. Chapter 8

The flight to Russia felt like it was going to take forever. As comfortable as Tony's plane was, Felicity was ready to be out of it. She did her best thinking when she was moving, and even in a plane as nice as Tony's, there wasn't exactly room to run.

Besides, without anything to occupy her, Felicity's thoughts kept drifting to home, and Ellie and her mom, and she wasn't ready to deal with that grief right now. Not where everyone could watch it happen. It was a relief then, when Tony announced that his computer program had been able to get more information about the place they were going to.

Everyone gathered around to listen. "It's still sketchy," Tony said. "They used some of the heaviest encryptions I've seen, which is why getting to the information is taking a while." He scowled a little at that, and Felicity guessed that maybe getting through encryptions wasn't usually a challenge for him.

"Some information is better than running in blind," Bruce said. "What have you found?"

"They call it the Freezer," Tony said, and that made Felicity wince. The name was certainly apt, after a manner of speaking, but there was a level of callousness there too.

_Evil organization that wants to murder a bunch of people. Not exactly the group to expect sensitive naming habits from._

"Looks like it's six levels, all underground," Tony continued. He tapped a panel on the plane's wall, and it slid aside to reveal a screen.

_The heck…no, you know what, I'm not even surprised anymore._

A few more taps, and a map appeared on the screen. "I've only been able to locate the most basic of schematics for the place, unfortunately."

Felicity wasn't a hundred percent sure of the scale of the place, but the levels each looked large to her. There was a central elevator going down, but she assumed they wouldn't want to use that. Only one stairwell that connected every level, though there were multiple sets of stairs connecting individual levels. And of course, none of it was actually labeled, so that was super unhelpful.

_I know I'm not a tactician or anything, but that doesn't look like an easy place to break into._

"I'm not seeing anything that might indicate where they keep Bucky," Steve said, studying the screen intently.

Tony shook his head. "I can't either. Like I said, not much detail."

Thor shifted, and while the movement was small, he was big enough that it caught the group's attention anyway. "Then we shall have to inquire for the information when we get there. How many foes should we be expecting?"

"That's also unclear," Tony said, "but probably a decent amount. It looks like this place isn't just used to hold Bucky when he's not on a mission; from the files that JARVIS could get into, it looks like they were also trying to make more super soldiers here. Doesn't seem like they were successful, but it means more people."

A team of scientists, to run the experiments, maintenance crews, both for whatever equipment they were using and for the building itself. A janitorial crew, IT support, maybe even a kitchen/cooks in a place that big. And all of those people would mean more security.

_They'd probably have enough security to take care of Bucky too, if he ever tried to escape._

He was brainwashed, after all. It wasn't like he worked for Hydra willingly. Granted, after decades of dealing with their mind control the odds of him trying to get away on his own probably weren't terribly high, but it'd be dumb for them not to plan for the possibility at least.

If this were a movie, Felicity wouldn't be worried at all. This was the sort of fight that heroes always won, and usually easily. But this wasn't a movie. This was real. And Felicity didn't like the idea of how many people they were going to have to go through to try and find Bucky.

"Well," Bruce said, turning to look at Steve. "You're the only one here who has actually invaded Hydra bases before. Any ideas?"

Steve nodded, his expression stern. "Given the limited information, I think stealth is going to be our best option."

Thor scoffed a little. "Surely we are enough to take down a base of _normal_ humans. They are so…" He waved a hand, clearly considering what word he wanted to use. "Fragile," he finally settled on. Tony rolled his eyes.

Steve shook his head. "Maybe. But we don't know what kind of weapons they have, or what their numbers are. And if they're alerted to our presence too soon, they might have time to wake Bucky up and use him against us." Which would definitely make the rescuing him bit a lot harder.

Thor shrugged. "Very well. It is your mission; we shall do as you suggest."

Felicity eyed him. The way he was talking, it sounded like he expected to be involved in the fight. Which was probably a fair assumption, but it left one glaring problem that no one seemed to be addressing yet. "Uh, a question. During this sneak attack, what exactly is going to be done with him?" She jerked her thumb towards Loki.

"I believe I could be useful," Loki started.

" _No."_ It was almost funny, how the four men responded at the same time with the same answer.

Steve glared at him. " _You_ are staying on this plane."

Loki held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It was merely a suggestion. No need to get worked up over it."

None of them deigned to actually respond to Loki's words. Instead, Bruce said, "I'll stay back too, and keep an eye on him. Besides, I don't think anyone wants _me_ to be in an underground bunker."

Given the way the Hulk could run through buildings like they weren't even there? Felicity figured that was probably a good call. The last thing they needed was for Bruce to flip out and accidentally bring the whole bunker down on their heads.

Steve nodded. "That's the plan then. Tony, Thor, and I will go in and get Bucky out, the rest of you will stay in the plane. Be ready to leave under fire if we have too."

_Doesn't sound like much of a plan to me._

To be fair, they didn't have all that much information to work with. It was probably about as detailed as any plan they came up with could get. Hopefully they'd be able to pull it off.

_And then what?_

Assuming they managed to get Bucky out, what exactly were their next steps? Had Steve even thought about the next steps? Were they going to go on the run or something? Or was he going to try and take down Hydra on his own?

She almost asked, but bit back the question. It probably wasn't the time to ask; it would only distract form the task at hand. And in the end, it hardly mattered what Steve decided to do, because Felicity was going to have to stick with him no matter what. She didn't really have any other options.

 _I wish I could run._ Just clear her head of all the worries swirling round it. But since that wasn't an option either, and the planning meeting seemed to be over, Felicity retreated back to a seat by herself and closed her eyes. If she couldn't run, then maybe a nap would be the next best thing.

* * *

The feel of the plane descending woke her. Felicity blinked her eyes and sat up, trying to see what was happening. Tony and Steve had both changed into their uniforms at some point, and Felicity's heart picked up as she realized they must be close to their destination.

"We're about a mile out," Tony was saying, his voice tinny coming through the helmet speakers. "Our landing should be undetected."

"Good," Steve said. "Then let's get moving."

The door of the plane opened, letting in a cold wind that made Felicity shiver. She was still in the yoga pants and tank top she'd been running in, which was not nearly warm enough for Russia at whatever time of year this was. She had no idea what the date was.

Steve glanced her way, and their eyes met. He smiled, and it was probably supposed to be reassuring. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from warning them to be careful. They knew what they were getting into better than she did, after all.

Then they were gone, and Bruce shut the door after them. "Don't worry about them," Bruce said, moving to sit near her. "They'll be alright."

"Debatable," Loki commented.

Felicity glared at him. "No one asked for your opinion."

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong," Loki replied. "Even someone who's no good at tactics should be able to see their paltry plan is pathetic at best. There are a million ways this could go wrong."

"We're not interested in hearing about them," Bruce snapped.

"You should be," Loki said. "It's always in your best interests to prepare for the worst eventuality. For example, this part of the plan. You guarding me, I mean."

Felicity stiffened, because that sounded like the beginning of bad news if she'd ever heard it. Bruce's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "What about it?"

 _He can't be about to try something._ The others had barely left, and Bruce had already trounced Loki before, that's why the others had left him there to guard the alien. There wasn't anything Loki could do.

"Well, you see," Loki said, leaning forward in his seat, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Neither of you can see through my illusions."

Hands clamped down on her upper arms, yanking Felicity out of her seat like she weighed nothing. Bruce jumped to his feet and spun around, but Loki already had hold of her, an arm wrapped around her to pin Felicity's arms to her sides, her feet dangling in the air. She tried to twist out of his grip, to no effect.

"Let her go!" Bruce snapped.

"Or what?" Loki asked, his tone mocking. "You're not exactly precise, Dr. Banner. Attack me, and you won't be able to avoid hurting her."

Felicity kicked at his shins, but Loki didn't pay her any mind. "Put me down!"

Loki tsk'ed. "You're hardly in any position to make demands either." He edged around Bruce towards the door, pausing a moment to snatch up Steve's bag. "Now I think I shall take my leave."

Panic edged under her skin, this was _happening,_ Loki was about to kidnap her, and she needed to get _away_ –

Blue sparked in her vision, and the next thing Felicity knew she was falling into a snowdrift. Cold hit her like a physical blow, driving the air from her lungs. She struggled back to her feet, her whole body shivering. _Where's the plane?_

She couldn't see it. There was nothing around but an endless, snowy landscape with mountains looming in the distance. Wind blew, cutting through the thin material of her jogging outfit, and Felicity curled her arms around herself in a vain attempt at conserving heat.

It seemed she'd instinctively teleported herself away from Loki, but she had no idea where she was, and now she was going to freeze to death before anyone could find her, unless she could manage to teleport again.

Her teeth were chattering, and Felicity squeezed her eyes shut. _Focus, focus! You've got to get somewhere warm!_ Her brain couldn't pick a location; all Felicity could think about was how desperately she needed a heater, then –

She stumbled as her footing changed, eyes snapping opened and a hand flying up to catch herself against a wall. Warmth surrounded her, and Felicity felt a surge of relief that whatever this place was, it had a working heater. She was still cold – her tumble in the snow had left her clothes soaked – but she was no longer at risk of freezing to death.

Felicity straightened, and a wave of dizziness hit her. She sank to the floor, her hand sliding down the wall as spots danced along her vision. Exhaustion weighed her limbs, like she hadn't just had a long nap.

_Right then. Teleporting twice in close succession, not recommended._

Not that she'd had a choice. But wherever she'd ended up, she probably shouldn't risk trying to teleport again any time soon. Felicity leaned back against the wall, breathing deeply. _Where am I now anyway?_

The floor, walls, and ceiling of the room she was in all looked to be make of concrete. The walls were lined with dull metal lockers. Some kind of storage room, if she had to guess. But storage _where?_

Felicity had no idea what kind of range her teleportation had; she could be anywhere. _I don't know. I haven't gone that far yet. But it's not like there was anything around –_

_Oh. Oh, no._

The answer was obvious. The only nearby building.

The Hydra bunker.

_This is really bad._

If she was right, and this was the Hydra bunker, she'd probably beat Steve, Tony, and Thor there, and when they arrived, they wouldn't have any idea they needed to look for her. That wasn't even thinking about the number of people in the bunker who'd probably shoot Felicity on sight or something.

"I am so screwed."

She needed to get out of there, or at least get somewhere the guys would easily find her when they showed up. Easier said than done; Felicity looked down at her outfit with a grimace. It'd be obvious at a glance if anyone saw her that she didn't belong.

Some of her exhaustion had passed, so Felicity pushed herself back to her feet. She moved to the lockers, hoping she'd find something she could use as a disguise. The first locker she opened was filled with office supplies. She opened the next one and found it filled with boxes of printer paper. The next one held cleaning supplies, the next one blankets. Then finally, to Felicity's delight and relief, one had clothes. They were military style uniforms, the tops and pants with gray and white camo patterns. She had to dig to find something close to her size, but she found one that fit well enough.

Felicity changed quickly and shoved her wet clothes in the locker buried under the uniforms. With any luck, no one would find them in the near future. Then she pulled her hair out of its ponytail and twisted it up in a bun.

The disguise wasn't perfect. She hadn't found any socks or shoes in the lockers, so she was forced to stick with her wet sneakers, and if anyone tried to talk to her in any language other than English or Latin, she was screwed. But it might at least buy her a few seconds if someone had to do a doubletake, and had the added bonus of not being wet, so.

Still, she hesitated at the door to the storage room. She hated to leave the relative safety it provided. _I can't stay here. That's just asking to get caught._

Felicity grit her teeth and opened the door, slipping out into the hall. The hallway was empty, the floors, walls, and ceiling the same gray concrete as the storage room. There was nothing on the walls to indicate what floor she was on, or where anything was, so Felicity picked a direction and started walking. She stuck close to the walls, feeling horribly exposed, and fighting the urge to run.

_Just keep calm and keep walking. You're good. Just keep walking._

An alarm blared, making Felicity jump. She lunged for the nearest door and turned the handle, nearly falling through it in her haste to get out of the hallway. She shut and locked it behind her, flipping the extra deadbolt as soon as she spotted it.

_Was that for me? Or did the guys show up?_

Felicity didn't know, and didn't know how to find out. If it was the second, then their attempt at stealth had failed miserably.

She turned to see what room she'd just hidden in, and froze. Because directly ahead of her, was a large metal tube, and through clear panels on the front, she could a man inside.

"Oh, crap."

Felicity edged nearer. The man didn't move; of course, he didn't, he was frozen. "Is that…?"

It had to be. Who else would Hydra be keeping frozen in here? Plus, now that she was moving nearer, Felicity could see the metal arm.

She'd just found Bucky.

There were flickering screens on the side of the chamber he was in, and Felicity edged around the side so she could see them. The words were all in Russian, and so were of no help to Felicity since she didn't know a word of the language. The numbers though – _I think those are his vitals._ Felicity's brows drew together as she studied them. If she was interpreting them correctly, he _ought_ to be dead. _He's cryogenically frozen, everything should be insanely low._

Still, it was kind of mind bending that freezing him apparently worked in this world. They were no where near perfecting that kind of tech in her world.

_Wait a minute…if those buttons correlate with those numbers…I think I can wake him up._

Felicity wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. If she made a mistake, she could seriously injure Bucky, and if she didn't make a mistake, there was no telling what sort of mental state he'd be in.

But the alarm was still shrieking, and Felicity didn't know if Hydra was coming after her or fighting the others. She set her jaw and hoped she wasn't making a mistake as she started tapping buttons.

* * *

Waking was a slow process for the Soldier. His mind always woke before he could move his body. Normally it was relatively calm in the room when he woke, but this time he could hear the emergency siren ringing. Trouble was coming.

His fingers twitched.

"His color is better. No damage to the shoulder, so that's good news."

A woman's voice, speaking English. American, by her accent.

The Soldier's eyes opened, and he saw her. She was dressed in a standard uniform – minus the shoes – her wavy blonde hair pulled back in a bun. Her blue eyes studied him clinically, presumably checking for damage from the chamber. The Soldier could already tell there was none.

There was no one else in the room, which was unusual. Usually, a whole team of people were present when he woke. Whatever had set off the alarms must have changed the basic protocols. But if she was the only one there, it meant by default that she must be his new Handler.

He shifted, and her gaze snapped to his face, blanching slightly as she moved a step back. Unusual. The Soldier's Handlers weren't typically so openly afraid of him. But it wasn't the Soldier's place to wonder who was appointed or why; it was only his place to obey. He stepped out of the chamber. "What's my mission?"

Her brows drew together, the confusion clear on her face. "Um, you do speak English, right?"

He did, but the Soldier couldn't remember ever having a Handler prefer to give his missions in English rather than Russian. Still, he switched languages since that was what she wanted. "What's my mission?"

"Uh." She glanced up, then back at him. "Right now? Surviving."

_Mission; protect the Handler._

He moved to the locker to the side of the room to collect his gear. He heard the Handler follow him a few steps, then she paused as he tugged a black shirt over his head, strapping on his body armor after.

"Bucky?"

Her tone made the word sound like a question, but the Soldier didn't know what she was referring to. He looked her way, trying to ascertain what she wanted.

"That's your name, isn't it?" she asked. "Bucky?"

He frowned. "I don't have a name." As his Handler, she ought to know that. There was no time to wonder about it. Above the siren, the Soldier could hear the echoes of gunfire. Still a floor above them, but drawing closer. He had to get the Handler clear of the threat.

The Soldier moved to the second locker, the one that housed his weapons. The Handler made a choked noise, and he glanced back at her to see she was staring at the weapons with wide eyes. The sight clearly frightened her, though the Soldier didn't know why. Everyone in Hydra knew what he did; what he was for.

_If she scares easy, protecting her will be more difficult._

Unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do about it. He just had to complete the mission anyway. He quickly strapped on his weapons, keeping one gun in hand, then moved to the door. The Handler slowly followed him. "Stay behind me," he told her.

The Soldier unlocked the door, then shoved it open and moved out, swinging his weapon down the hall. "Clear," he said, when he saw there were no enemies present. The Handler came out after him. The best way to get her out of there would be to take a jet from the hanger on the top floor.

He led the way down the hall, away from the direction he could hear the gunshots in. They'd take the secondary staircase, keep away from the main conflict.

_Footsteps are coming this way._

The Soldier paused, and four men rounded the approaching corner, skidding to a stop when they saw him. They were wearing Hydra uniforms, so the Soldier didn't immediately fire. "How are you –?" the Hydra agent saw the Handler, and pointed his own rifle at her. "Intruder!"

The Soldier got off a shot before the agent could, blood and brain matter splattering on the agents behind him. The Handler screamed. The Soldier fired again, dropping the other three agents before they could pose a real threat. Only after they were dead did the Soldier turn to check on the Handler. She was pressed back against the wall, her face pale and pupils dilated, one hand covering her mouth. _Not hurt. Scared._ He didn't have time for scared. He switched the gun to his left hand, then with his right snagged the back of her collar and pulled her along. The rough handling might get him punished later, but that didn't matter. He had his mission.

She stumbled as she tried to keep up with him. "You – you killed them!"

He didn't know why that was shocking. "They were a threat." Though that in and of itself was strange. Hydra had never tried to kill one of his Handlers before. He didn't know why they would now.

_Irrelevant. I obey my Handler._

They made it to the door that led to the stairwell, and the Soldier moved the Handler out of the line of the doorway. "Stay here until I clear it." He shouldn't have to tell her that, but he was quickly losing confidence that she actually knew anything about fighting or tactics.

He kicked the door in and moved past it quickly, scanning the area with his gun. "Clear."

She followed after him, and the Soldier moved up the stairs. They were halfway up when the door above them opened, letting in Hydra agents. The Soldier opened fire, and the Handler jerked. The abrupt movement made her lose her balance, and she started to tip backwards. His hand shot out to grab her, but just before he caught her shirt, she dissolved in a flash of blue sparks, and the Soldier was left grasping at empty air.

_What. The hell?_


	9. Chapter 9

Felicity landed hard on her back, knocking the air out of her lungs. She laid there, struggling to breathe while spots danced over her vision. Then all at once, air rushed back in, and Felicity gasped as her vision slowly cleared. Her limbs felt heavy, her fingers stiff and almost numb as she curled them, and her stomach gnawed at her spine like she hadn't eaten in days.

 _Definitely should not teleport again._ Not that she'd intended to teleport this time, but she'd panicked, and her powers had reacted automatically.

She could hear gunshots still, though somewhat more distant than before. She needed to move. Taking a deep breath, Felicity rolled over to her stomach and pushed herself up to her hands and knees. Her muscles trembled with the effort, and it was all she could do to tumble over into a seated position against the wall.

She'd teleported to another hallway in the Hydra bunker, the gray cement walls doing nothing to tell her where exactly she was. _I have to get up. I need to find Steve._ Her legs were uncooperative, and all Felicity managed to do was sit there and breathe.

The sound of the gunshots was getting closer. Not a good sign. _I need to go!_ If she stayed where she was, she'd be found by Hydra agents, and Felicity understood how that would end.

 _There'd been blood and brains and Bucky had done it so_ fast _–_

_Don't think. Just move._

She grit her teeth and pushed up to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall for support. She managed to stand that time, but had to pause as a wave of dizziness washed over her. What was even the point of being able to teleport if it wore her out this much?

There was shouting now, and three figures rounded the corner. Felicity saw the uniforms, the guns, and she knew she was screwed.

One of the men noticed her, doing a doubletake as he registered she didn't really belong, but before he could point his rifle her way, a hammer followed them around the corner and slammed into them, knocking all three of them to the ground like something out of a cartoon. Felicity blinked and stared, and before it sank in that she should probably use this moment to try and run away, Thor, Steve, and Tony came swooping around the corner, only to stumble to a halt of their own when they saw Felicity.

"New kid?" Tony exclaimed, his voice metallic through the mask of his Iron Man suit. "What in the world are you doing here?"

Relief flooded her at the sight of them, making Felicity's knees go weak, and she sank back to the ground. Thor leapt towards her, catching hold of her arms and keeping her from landing too hard. "Are you injured?" he asked, eyes scanning over her.

"Not exactly," Felicity said, grimacing. "Teleported three times now. Apparently, that's a bad idea."

"Why –?" Thor started to ask, then cut himself off with a scowl. "Loki."

"No time for that now," Steve said, and Felicity couldn't help the vague thought that his costume looked even more ridiculous than Tony's armor. "We have to keep moving; can you walk?"

"I don't think so." It galled Felicity to admit it, but she wouldn't be helping anything by pretending to be okay when she wasn't.

Thor scooped her up, and Felicity clung to him. "We should go quickly," Thor said. "We need to get Lady Felicity out of here."

Steve nodded, leading the way down the hall. "As soon as we find Bucky."

And this was the moment when she should tell them she'd already found him. That he was awake, and somewhere in the base. But she remembered the speed and ease with which he'd killed those Hydra agents, and she almost wished they wouldn't find him.

_He's brainwashed. It's not his fault._

He didn't seem very brainwashed, apart from not remembering his name. Wasn't he supposed to be loyal to Hydra? If he was so brainwashed, why would he turn on them?

" _They were a threat."_

But they hadn't been, not to him, it was Felicity they'd planned to shoot.

A chill crawled up her spine.

_Wait. Did he kill them…to protect me?_

Why would he do that? She was nothing more than a stranger, they were part of the organization he was supposed to work for, it didn't make sense.

" _What's my mission?"_

The chill spread, and Felicity suddenly had a terrible feeling that they'd completely misunderstood the way Bucky's brainwashing actually worked.

"I found Bucky," she said. She wasn't loud, but apparently Steve's hearing was really good, because he came to a halt and spun around all in one motion.

"You _what_?"

His tone was sharp enough to make Felicity want to flinch away, but she managed not to. "I found Bucky. And I woke him up. We were trying to find our way out of here, but Hydra agents showed up, and I teleported here, so…I'm not sure where he is now."

"He was helping you?" Tony asked. "Is he in his right mind then?"

Felicity shook her head. "I don't think so. He doesn't remember his name. I'm not sure why he was helping me." Though she was starting to have suspicions.

She hoped they were wrong.

"Any idea where you were?" Steve asked.

"A stairwell." It wasn't a helpful answer, Felicity knew that, but it wasn't her fault if this place didn't have any signs or anything to make one area distinct from another. "Probably a lower level? We were trying to go up."

"Right," Tony said, "then let's try to head down and hope we run into him."

Felicity wasn't sure she shared that hope. _It's not his fault. They brainwashed him._

It didn't make him any less terrifying.

* * *

_Mission: protect the Handler._

_Update: Handler is missing._

_Mission status: critical._

The Soldier didn't know how the Handler had vanished like she did; was it under her own power, or someone else's? Was she even still in the base?

The security room would be the quickest way to figure out if she was still there. He was able to move quicker without the Handler trailing after him, making his way through the concrete halls until he got to the security room a floor above. The door was locked, and the Soldier had no patience to try picking the lock or knocking, not when one kicked could knock the whole thing off its hinges. Before the two security men could get out of their chairs, the Soldier shot them, once in the head each. A quick scan confirmed they were the only ones in the room, so he made his way to the monitors, searching.

_There._

He spotted the Handler on one of the screens, along with three men. Or two men and a robot; hard to tell. One of the men was carrying the Handler, and it wasn't clear if she was injured, or if he was carrying her to keep her captive. What was apparent was that none of the men were Hydra; they were in the wrong uniforms.

_No easy way to get her away from them._

He had his mission. Failure wasn't an option.

They were coming down a stairwell that led to the floor the Soldier was on. He left the security room, running down the halls to make it to the door before them, a hand reaching into a pocket as he moved. He'd only get one shot at this.

He barely got into place to the side of the door before it opened, the armored man stepping through. The Soldier tossed the explosive he'd gotten out of his pocket at him; the moment it connected with the armor it blew, tossing the armor to the side. The Soldier dove through the doorway; the second man had his shield up already, the Soldier caught the edges with both hands, twisting and yanking. The shield was strapped to his arm, so the man came with it, and the Soldier threw both into the far wall.

He pivoted back to face the third man, the one who had the Handler, and – "Stop!"

The Soldier froze, every muscle going rigid at the command, the command that didn't make _sense_ , his mission was to keep the Handler _safe_ , and this _wasn't_ –

"They're allies, you don't need to fight them!" the Handler said.

Allies; not a threat to the Handler. Some of the tension eased, at least enough to let the Soldier move again.

_How much damage did I do to the other two?_

If he'd injured them bad enough, it would make getting out of the base even more inconvenient than it already was. But when he looked, the armored man was already back on his feet, only minor marks on the armor to show for the explosive the Soldier had used. _Tougher than I thought._

The man with the shield was also on his feet, staring at the Soldier with an intensity that didn't make sense and raised the Soldier's guard.

"I take it this is Bucky," the armored man said.

Bucky. It was the same name the Handler had used for him earlier.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" the Soldier asked.

The man with the shield flinched back at the question, indicating the name meant something to him at least, but what the Soldier couldn't guess.

"Guys," the Handler said, "now is not the time. Sirens? Hydra? Maybe we should go?"

Right, he still needed to get the Handler out. "This way," he said, brushing past the man carrying the Handler and up the stairs they'd just come down. He glanced back at the Handler as he did, trying to quickly assess if she was actually injured.

There were no obvious injuries he could spot, but her skin was noticeably paler than it had been before, and dark circles colored under her eyes. She looked exhausted, even though they'd only been separated a matter of minutes, and the Soldier put together the clues he had.

_She teleported herself; involuntary, probably triggered by fear. Tires her out._

A complication the Soldier didn't need. One he'd figure out how to deal with once they were out of the base.

They didn't run into any more resistance on the way out; it seemed the three men had done enough damage on their way in that any Hydra agents left weren't willing to confront them if they didn't have the Soldier on their side.

"Where exactly are we going?" the armored man asked.

"The hanger," the Soldier answered shortly, still keeping a lookout for potential threats as they moved.

"We've got a plane already," the armored man said. "A mile due west of here. We just need to get back to it."

The Soldier took a quick turn, adjusting their route with the new information. They soon made it to the exit; the Soldier opened the door, and he heard the Handler suck in a breath as the cold air from outside washed over them.

_She's not dressed warm enough for this weather._

Didn't even have gloves or a jacket; it wouldn't matter for him, not if they were just going a mile, but it would make a difference for the Handler, and he should have had the forethought to make sure she was supplied.

"I'll fly Lady Felicity to the plane," the man carrying her said, unhooking the large hammer he had hanging on his belt. "She should not walk through this cold."

_Fly? What?_

Before the Soldier could ask anything, the man spun his hammer, and then they were off through the air, his Handler whisked out of his reach for the second time. The Soldier grit his teeth. This was starting to be an irritating pattern.

"Any chance you could fly us?"

The Soldier looked over at the other two; that armor could fly too?

"Uh, both of you at once?" the armored man responded. "Technically, yes, but you'd hate it."

"Speed it important," the man replied.

"Okay then." The armor turned towards the Soldier. "You going to throw another explosive at me if I touch you?"

"No," the Soldier said. Not if it got him back to the Handler quickly.

"Then let's go."

* * *

 _At least the plane is in one piece,_ Felicity thought as Thor landed beside it. _That's got to be a good sign._

It also seemed like a good sign when the stairs started lowering right away; Loki probably wouldn't be that considerate. But she didn't actually relax until Bruce appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at them with concern.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked at the same time Felicity said, "What happened with Loki?"

"You first," Bruce insisted, as Thor carried her up the steps.

"I'm fine," Felicity said. "I think. I'm just tired. And hungry. Pretty sure its side effects from teleporting. I just need rest and food and I'll be fine."

Thor settled her in one of the chairs, and Felicity was grateful that Tony had the large, reclining type. "Now, Dr. Banner, what happened with my brother?"

Bruce sighed. "He got away. Steve had the Tesseract in his bag, and somehow Loki figured that out, and he used it to teleport out of here. Who knows where; could be off planet for all I know."

Thor frowned. "You tracked the Tesseract once before. Could you do it again?"

"Sure, if I had the resources," Bruce said, "but we kind of can't go back to a SHIELD lab."

There was a whir of repulsors from outside, and a moment later Steve, Tony, and Bucky came up the stairs. Felicity focused in on Bucky, watching him as glanced over the plane, his gaze pausing on Bruce for a moment before shifting to her. Her stomach sank when he moved her way, but she wasn't exactly surprised.

The moment in the base had kind of confirmed her fears.

"Are you injured?" he asked, and it was weird hearing that question from him, because he didn't say it like he was actually concerned. There was no emotion or inflection to the question. He asked as though he _had_ to ask.

Which was, Felicity was pretty sure, actually the case.

"No," Felicity said. "Just worn out from teleporting."

His expression didn't show any sort of reaction. He just moved to stand slightly behind her seat, where he could keep an eye on everyone else. It made her uneasy, knowing he was there where she couldn't see him, and all she could think of was how fast he'd been, killing those Hydra agents.

_Don't be stupid; if he decided to kill me, being able to see him wouldn't make a difference._

The plane rumbled to life, Tony in the cockpit as Steve asked Bruce about what happened with Loki. "He got away with the Tesseract," Bruce updated him. "Thanks for telling me we had that, by the way."

Steve grimaced, running a hand through his hair. "We're going to have to do something about that."

"We're going to track down Loki and the Tesseract while running from Hydra and SHIELD?" Bruce asked.

"I'll figure it out," Steve snapped. Then he winced. "Sorry."

There was a moment of silence, then Bruce shrugged. "It's been a long day. But," he turned and pointed a finger towards Bucky, "what's going on with him?"

Steve stiffened, then slowly turned his head to look at Bucky. There was a long, pregnant pause, and Felicity hardly dared to breathe. She couldn't imagine what was going through Steve's head; they'd found Bucky, gotten him away from Hydra…but Bucky didn't even remember himself, much less Steve.

"Do you know me?" Steve finally asked.

Another pause, and Felicity had to resist the urge to turn and look at Bucky.

"No."

Steve's jaw ticked, but he didn't show any other reaction. He had to swallow before he could get the next question out. "Why are you helping her?" He nodded towards Felicity.

Felicity couldn't stop herself from glancing up at Bucky, only to find he had cut his eyes down towards her. The lead weight in her stomach got heavier. She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she didn't want to voice it, because there was a part of her that was still hoping she was wrong.

Bucky's gaze moved back to Steve. "She's my Handler."

_Ah. Not wrong._

"Handler?" Thor asked, brows creasing. "What does that mean?"

"I woke him up," Felicity said, her mouth suddenly dry. "So, he listens to me now."

It made a sort of sense, when she stopped to think about it. Brainwashing was probably a complicated business, and brainwashing someone to be loyal to an _ideal_ , to some amorphous organization, probably wasn't all that doable. Loyalty and obedience to a singular person was probably simpler. And given that he was frozen for years at a time between missions, that singular person would need to be changeable. So they programmed him to be loyal to whoever woke him up.

This time it just happened to have been Felicity.

It made her sick to her stomach to think about it. To remember how she'd said _stop_ and he'd _frozen_. To know she could order him to kill, and he wouldn't even hesitate.

"I don't know how to fix it," she said, her voice little more than a whisper. There had to be some way to fix him, to fix this mess. But Felicity didn't know what it was; she'd never paid close enough attention to the movies to notice how Bucky got out from under Hydra's control.

A weight settled over the group, and Felicity tried not to wilt under Steve's stare. Abruptly, he spun around on one heel, walking away. A lump formed in Felicity's throat, from stress or exhaustion she wasn't sure, but she tried to swallow it back down.

Bruce let out a long sigh. "We'll figure it out."


End file.
